The "Art" of Exploitation

I have a new post up at the Ms. Magazine blog:

I consider myself fairly liberal when it comes to some of the most controversial 21st-century debates about sex. I’m not anti-pornography or sex work, as long as they are properly regulated, include health care for workers and require explicit consent of all participants. I also think that erotically charged art can be very compelling, provided it goes beyond prurient sensationalism. So it’s pretty impressive, though not in a good way, that French artist Antoine D’Agata’s photographs of himself having sex with Cambodian sex workers piss me off so much.

D’Agata, whom Flaunt magazine calls a “provocative social documentarian,” revels in the controversial nature of his art practice. He has expressed hope that the photos–which depict him engaged in a variety of sex acts with young women in brothels–might somehow bring light to the plight of sex workers in Cambodia.

Read the rest here.

Pop's Diva Daughter as Primal Mother

I have a new post up at Ms.. Magazine's blog (after a long dry spell which was primarily the result of writer's block and lack of time) about Lady Gaga's newest music video, "Born This Way":

I’ve been looking forward to the music video of Lady Gaga’s much-hyped single “Born This Way” for several weeks, so, when it premiered Sunday on Vevo I really wanted to love it. Unfortunately, “Born This Way” just doesn’t have the twisted, Mad Hatter brilliance of Gaga’s “Bad Romance” video or the movie-pastiche playfulness and queer pleasures of “Telephone” (featuring Beyonce).

What “Born This Way” does share with earlier Gaga videos is an unabashed willingness (nay, insistence) to push the already elastic envelope of music video propriety, a penchant for dancing around in her underwear and a clear, but not completely realized, desire to blur the boundaries between pop rock and video art.

“Born This Way” refers to the idea that homosexuality is the result of nature not nurture, something Gaga emphasizes both through her lyrics (“No matter gay, straight or bi, / Lesbian, transgendered life / I’m on the right track baby / I was born to survive”) and with the neon pink triangle that opens and closes the video. But visually, she seems more interested in metaphors of childbirth and Motherhood (capital “M” intended) than in dwelling on images of queer pride.

Read the rest here.

A Feminist Countdown to 2011 ~ Day Twenty-Eight

See the full calendar here.

A Feminist Countdown to 2011 ~ Day Twenty-Three

See the full calendar here.

A Feminist Countdown to 2011 ~ Day Fifteen

See the full calendar here.

A Feminist Countdown to 2011 ~ Day Eight

See the full calendar here.

A Feminist Countdown to 2011 ~ Day Two

See the full calendar here.

A.I.R. Gallery in Brooklyn, NY Calling All Women Artists

Just a quick PSA:

A.I.R. Gallery invites you to participate in an invitational holiday exhibition of small works, Generations VII, December 2nd- January 3rd 2010. The exhibition includes a silent auction. Sales will benefit participating artists and A.I.R. Gallery. 60% of the proceeds of each work will be paid to the artist within one month after the close of the exhibition. The remaining 40% of sales will support the A.I.R. Fellowship Program for Emerging and Underrepresented Artists. Please join this biennial celebration of art made by women!

Entry forms must be postmarked by November 22, 2009. More information about A.I.R. Gallery and the exhibition guidelines can be found here.

Two Great Opportunities for Women Artists

A.I.R. Gallery has two exciting opportunities for women artists...and the deadlines are soon, so check them out!

1. Open Call, submissions due October 2, 2009

"The Man I Wish I Was", Open Call for artist submissions. A.I.R. Gallery in Brooklyn, NY invites any artist worldwide who self-identifies as female to submit original works of art for a one-month group exhibit in January 2010. We look forward to unanticipated perspectives and encourage an open interpretation of the theme “The Man I Wish I Was.” For full details and application see A.I.R. Gallery website.

2. A.I.R. Fellowship Program, applications due October 31, 2009

18-month professional development program with solo show opportunity for women in the NYC area. Panelists: Lowery Stokes-Sims, Curator, Museum of Art and Design; Harriet Senie, Art Critic and Art Historian; and Catherine Morris, Curator of the Elizabeth Sackler Center for Feminist Art at The Brooklyn Museum. Apply online or download an application. Or send SASE for prospectus to: A.I.R. Gallery, 111 Front St #228, Brooklyn, NY, 11217.

Feminist Flashback #37

Some of you have probably heard of Artemisia Gentileschi; her work and life are usually taught in intro art history classes and, sometimes, intro women's studies classes. The Italian daughter of the well-known-in-his-day painter Orazio Gentileschi, Artemisia was born in 1593 (d. 1652/53) and worked as an artist during the Baroque period, when very few women were painters. Her work is especially notable because she painted historical and allegorical subjects, instead of just painting the still-life and portrait work traditionally deemed appropriate for the 'fairer sex.'

She began painting as a teenager (she painted Susanna and the Elders, which I've posted below, when she was 17). Her life-story is pretty rocky: she was raped by her tutor, the painter Agostino Tassi, and subjected to an extensive and very public trial (during which she was tortured while being questioned in order to "verify" her accusations). A compelling (if questionably accurate) film was made about Artemisia's life in 1997; it's called, simply, Artemisia.

For more information, check out Mary D. Garrad's book Artemisia Gentileschi.

I absolutely adore Artemisia Gentileschi's work--always have; her use of chiaroscuro (contrasting light and dark) is nothing short of brilliant and her paintings radiate a confident and beautiful style that's really quite unique.

Some of my favorites below the cut:

Susanna and the Elders, 1610

Judith Slaying Holofernes, c. 1612-13

Judith and Her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes, c. 1625

Self Portrait as the Allegory of Painting, c. 1630

Feminist Flashback #34

http://www.crimethinc.com/

(H/T Sally's tumblr)

Feminist Flashback #31

In honor of Gaypril, this week's Feminist Flashback brings you the work of Dyke Action Machine (DAM), a two-person team (Carrie Moyer and Sue Schaffner) whose public art projects have graced the city streets since 1991. According to their website, their campaigns "dissected mainstream media by inserting lesbian images into recognizably commercial contexts, revealing how lesbians are and are not depicted in American popular culture. While questioning the basic assumption that one cannot be “present” in a capitalist society unless one exists as a consumer group, DAM! performed the role of the advertiser, promising the lesbian viewer all the things she’d been denied by the mainstream: power, inclusion, and the public recognition of identity."

DAM encourages people to re-print and plaster their own neighborhoods with DAM posters. The artistic duo also just created a 16-page pamphlet explaining how to "convert lesbianism into a viable commodity." It's oh-so-very educational.

Check out a few of their older projects below and definitely head over to their website to see what they're up to these days:

The Gap Campaign, 1991

Family Circle, 1992

Do You Love The Dyke In Your Life?, 1993

Lesbian Americans: Don't Sell Out, 1998

Feminist Flashback #30

First, a quick note about last week's Feminist Flashback. While I though I had scheduled a post to go up during my travels, I accidentally left it saved as a draft instead. Silly mistake. So, the March 22 Feminist Flashback is now up (and backdated).

Secondly, I apologize (again!) for my absence this last week. Traveling has proved more detrimental to my writing than I expected. Suffice it to say, I'll be home soon and back to posting again regularly. I miss the blogging world!

Thirdly, for this week's Flashback and without further ado, I present the photographs of artist Cindy Sherman. Since the late 1970s, Sherman's self-portraits have eloquently confronted the male gaze and explored the relationship between women and narrative. Her "Untitled Film Stills" series, in particular, asks viewers to consider the implications of the story in which each pictured character (all Sherman) finds herself. Some of her later work addresses iconic female characters and the mutability of women's roles (and her own performance of them).

From the Untitled Film Stills series
(Dates, in order: 1978, 1977, 1978, 1978, 1979)











Other work

Untitled #90, 1981

Untitled (Woman in Sun Dress), 2003

Feminist Flashback #19

Today, for your Feminist Flashback viewing pleasure, the work of artist Barbara Kruger. She began producing her feminist collage/photographic art in the late 1970s and continues into the present:

1981

1981

1982

1983

1987

1989

1989

ETA: One of her more recent, explicitly-political works, from 2004:

Special edition? New York Times?

If you all haven't seen it yet, you should check out the New York Times special edition which came out yesterday. Headlines/articles include:

Iraq War Ends: Troops to Return Immediately

Ex-Secretary Apologizes for WMD Scare

National Health Insurance Act Passed

Big Boxes Appeal Eviction from Low-Income Neighborhoods

Court Indicts Bush on High Treason Charge

Popular Pressure Ushers Recent Progressive Tilt

Nation Sets its Sights on Building a Sane Economy

All Public Universities to be Free


Obviously, it's a fake newspaper, quite elaborate, dated for July 9, 2009 and not sanctioned by the Times itself. Check it out and read some of the articles before someone shuts the website down.

The editorial note reads:

Two years ago, who would have dared to image we’d elect, as President of the United States, an African-American community organizer?

Six months ago, who would have predicted we’d enact universal health care, reform our education system, establish a maximum wage and “true cost” tax, and start taking steps to make our cities more livable — or that we’d so swiftly end the war in Iraq, and try for treason the leaders who took us there?

Yet we’ve done all that. Although we demanded change of Barack Obama, we understood that only we could bring about that change. And that’s why it happened.

Of course even with all these victories, we can’t let up for a second, and we can’t get tired. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned in the past two years, it’s that the most restful, energizing thing we can do is fight for a better world.

What do you all think? An uplifting look at a possible future? A silly prank? Are there any artistic and/or political merits to this sort of utopian look forward? Is it just amusing or also hopeful?

And why, oh why, aren't there headlines like Congress passes an across-the-board equal pay act for female workers or Gay Marriage Legalized Nationwide or, I don't know, Patriarchy Called into Question, Women Take Over Government? Now that's my kind of utopia! ;-)

Feminist Flashback #10

Just under the wire, the 10th Feminist Flashback also marks this blog's 101st post! Landmark moment... Okay... Moving on...

For today's flashback I'm showcasing the photography of Catherine Opie, a contemporary, L.A.-based lesbian artist whose amazing portrait photographs and sharp still-lives/landscapes showcase the stark realities and simple beauty of our lived communities (especially LGBTQ communities). For an overview of her work, check out her bio on the Guggenheim Museum's website.

I find her work, particularly her portraits and her Domestic series (which chronicles lesbian families across the country) really haunting and beautiful. Hence, in honor of LGBTQ people and their families, today's post is also a tribute to same-sex marriage (down with Prop 8!) and the struggle for equality (there's a selection of photos below the cut):

Self-Portrait, 1993


Being and Having, 1991

Miggi & Ilene, Los Angeles, California, 1995, from the series Domestic

Melissa & Lake, Durham, North Carolina, 1998, from the series Domestic

Catherine, Melanie and Sadie Rain, 1998, from the series Domestic

Self-Portrait/Nursing, 2004

For some more, high-quality photos, check out this online exhibition.

Feminist Flashback #8

For some reason, all the previous Feminist Flasbacks have been video clips of one sort or another; that situation needs to be rectified. I am, after all, an art historian (sort of...but that's another story). So, Fourth Wave Feminism's Feminist Flashback for this week is Judy Chicago's (in)famous 1979 installation piece The Dinner Party:


The Dinner Party has inspired some controversy both within feminist art and in the more male-dominated art world. It was and continues to be an extremely popular piece (housed permanently now in the Brooklyn Museum of Art. However, it's been criticized by third wave feminists for its essentialism and lack of criticality (among other things).

Each plate, placed around the large triangular table central to the installation, is designed and crafted for a different woman from history. The installation includes not only the table, but also wall panels with historical descriptions of the women represented, floor tiles covered in the scripted names of hundreds of other women who were not given individual plates, and hanging tapestries with texts about the eternal unity of women. Each place-setting is elaborate, the ceramic plates carefully designed and crafted, and the tablecloths intricately embroidered to emphasize certain aspects of each woman’s life or accomplishments. The motifs for almost all of the designs are vaginal, emphasizing an identification of female sexuality with biological destiny (one of the factors that allowed deconstructivist feminists to denounce the work as essentialist).

For more information, and a contemporary feminist prospective, check out the April 2007 Washington Post article "Her Table Is Ready: Judy Chicago's 'Dinner Party' Is Still a Conversation Piece."

For more images and a virtual tour, you can check out the Brooklyn Museum's Dinner Party website.