Tag Archives: feminism

Being Latina and a woman: Otherness in the Latino-American Culture and the mainstream art world

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Sentences

Alma Lopez: Lopez speaks as an artist and a scholar about her most controversial piece, a digital print, Our Lady which was adamantly protested by officials of the Catholic Church because of it’s redefinition of the Virgen de Guadalupe in order to address the experience of Latina women.

Guisela M. Latorre: This brief article highlights the importance of and lack of emphasis on feminism during the Chicana/o artistic movement, and also on the invisibility of Latina/o artists in art historical scholarship.

Response

These articles about Latina and Chicana artists opened the discussion of this course particularly in talking about artists beyond the African Diaspora. I found each of these articles especially fascinating, because as someone who has a great interest in African-American artists, it is not often that I get the chance to learn about Latina and Latino artists beyond Diego Rivera and Frida Khalo. I sincerely appreciated Alma Lopez’s discussion of the origins of her reinterpretation of the Virgen de Guadalupe, entitled Our Lady. I thought the beginning of her argument that revolved her participation in the Caesar Chavez Walkathon in which she saw murals in East Los Angeles that feature male heroes in the greater Latino community but no female heroines. Or the protest of Our Lady conducted predominantly by males who did not have any understanding of how the Virgen de Guadalupe connects to Lopez or other women Latina or not. I think this provides an explanation for the nature of Lopez work, which explores depictions of the female Latina body in the guise of colonialism and sexism.

The discussion of how Latina women were represented in mainstream Latino, Latino-America and American culture as opposed to Lopez’s depiction relates directly to Lopez and Latorre’s critiques of institutions such as art museums and spaces of higher education. Lopez describes how Our Lady was part of a show in Los Angeles at UC Irvine and was not questioned however New Mexico the digitally modified image caused a great ruckus. In the Author’s Note, Lopez explains how Tom Wilson, director of the New Mexico Museums, supported her piece and museums as institutions that should promote learning that requires challenging audiences to contemplate artwork outside of their comfort zone. Latorre also discusses notions of the problem with spaces that privilege art historical study which is often constituted by scholars who may not fully understand the narrative of the artist’s background. I thought Latorre’s mention of bringing non-white artists into the scholarship of art history was brilliant.

Avoiding “the feminist’s first reaction”

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One thing that struck me was Linda Nochlin’s insistence that we who view art history through a feminist lens must suppress our initial urge to make a case for talented but overlooked women artists when confronted with the question “Why are there no Great women artists?” Before reading Nochlin’s essay I can well see myself thinking “But wait! What about Artemisia Gentileschi?! What about Mary Cassat, Georgia O’Keeffe, Frida Kalho, or Judy Chicago??” Surely these women were great artists who produced great work but they were not Great and by making a case for their work and existence in this context we distract ourselves from the reality that, though these women made wonderful and important art and contributions they have never been considered on the same level as Michelangelo, Renoir, Picasso, or Andy Warhol. We must accept that there have been no great women artists instead of denying it so that we can begin to examine the underlying structures that made this so. We must critically question the myth of the Great Artist and his magical Genius that propelled him to greatness so we can see the educational and institutional privileges that permitted him to be Great.

Modifying Conceptual Art

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An overarching theme in this week’s readings is the dislocation of dominant narratives by challenging the limitations and norms that are present in art. I particularly favored Jayne Wark’s “Conceptual Art and Feminism” article because each of the mentioned artists (Martha Rosler, Adrian Piper, Eleanor Antin, and Martha Wilson)modified Conceptual art to express their concerns with the social climate of the 60‘s and 70’s, as opposed to conforming to the traditional abstract focus of Conceptualism. A common technique that stood out to me was the use of self as both the subject and object, which enabled direct engagement with the audience, induced reception, and commodification of the body as art. I also found it rather creative that Wilson disguised herself into different characters to emphasize that identity is not biologically determined, “singular or fixed,” but can vary depending upon one’s preference.

Thus far in the course we have examined how identity is portrayed as a fixed concept that is generalized and broadly applied to the racialized or sexualized subject, so this article offered a different, true perspective of identity as being flexible. Another positive observation of the article was the portrayal of women as empowered, autonomous artists who possessed the confidence to disclaim the traditional course of Conceptualism and integrate their own ideas of what art should embody. As opposed to previous art that we have observed, these female artists did not portray themselves as sexualized objects which offered a refreshing twist to art’s portrayal of women.

Nochlin: Nochlin argues that we must correct and challenge what is perceived as normal or “natural” and that femininity and masculinity is not a “style” and cannot be determined by the artist’s explored subject.

Wark: Wark gives examples of four feminist artists that reject the norm of abstract conceptualism through concrete, “subject-centered” art that is influenced by social events.

Taylor: Taylor explores examples of female artists whose artwork is independent of male influence.

Women’s Art

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Wark- Conceptual art and it’s emphasis on political criticism was represented in Adrian Piper’s work as artist and art; other female artists embraced this subject-object relationship, which was a larger representation of the objectification of their bodies and identities in society.

Nochlin- The argument of great women artists is composed and dictated by mainly white, heterosexual males; the issue is based on the definition and appreciation of great art by women artists.

Summary: This art, which rejected the traditional ideologies of conceptual art, which stressed control in the purest form. Their pieces embraced the unpredictable, unfiltered era of the 1970’s, with a volatile woman’s rights movement and lingering difficulties with the Civil Rights era. Artists such as Adrian Piper altered the idea of art, yet her political & social statements were of a new breed in conceptual art. Her work, and many others, struggled to gain legitimacy in the art field, which has been a universal struggle of race and gender. The reading makes an effort to provide context for their struggle, which still remains a problem for current women artists.

The Conundrum of Feminist Art (joint post)

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Nochlin: Nochlin answers the inflammatory question “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” with an analysis of the sociocultural structures that privileged white middle-class masculinity and blocked the “Other” from excelling as an artist.

Wark: Despite its denigration of the individual, conceptual art provided an ironic inspiration for feminist artists such as Martha Rosler, Adrian Piper, Eleanor Antin, and Martha Wilson.

“The Artist is Present”: Abramovic boldly makes herself vulnerable in pieces like her most recent work “The Artist is Present” as she transforms her own bodily presence into art.

Taylor: Through new and different media, artists were able to rebel against the overwhelmingly male modernist culture and tackle issues such as race and gender.

Many feminist artists provide us with works which might seem cryptic to the audience when taken at face value. Why is it that those who ascribe to a movement meant to exhibit or even explain their identities present their artwork in a way that is less approachable for the viewer?

Feminist art created in the 1960s and 1970s emerged as a response to the ongoing feminist movement in America. Like many social and political movements at the time, the feminist movement ascribed to explain and support the identity of its cause, in this case women, for more progress in the nation. Although feminist artists created their works in response to the movement, the strategy that they use creates a challenge, rather than an easy way, for their audience to understand their identities. Their use of abstract, conceptual art in opposition to the male-dominated modernist movement creates a divide between their audience and their work of art. The mediums which the feminist artists use – installation, film, performance, and etc.- and the abstract way in which they apply them can prove isolating for many viewers.

Performances pieces created by the likes of Abramovic and Schneeman, which the average audience might take at face value as weird and unapproachable, can be a barrier to understanding, rather than providing a window into the experience of the “Other”. Such art can prove difficult to relate to, regardless of shared identities. If feminism truly is for everybody, as bell hooks asserts, then why provide the public with oft-cryptic, even bizarre works? Why not meet the audience halfway, so to speak, so as to bring the message to a greater number of people? Would doing so necessarily have to mean sacrificing the work?

– Tanekwah and Gabriella