Chapter 12
quote 1
"The work of May Stevens examines specific women’s lives in relation to the patriarchal structuring of class and privilege, and the polarities of abnormal/normal, silent/vocal, acceptance/resistance."
Stevens work is an expression of her own experience, while also showing her love for Feminist art movement. Showing a focus on Women, because growing up she saw a lack of it.
quote 2
"Sexuality, class, race, and ethnicity mediated women’s attempts to define what it meant to be a woman, to experience life from within a woman’s body and to understand one’s subjectivity as feminine."
I like this quote because of the point of it, which i interpret as nobody living the same life. The woman life isn't universal, even though some people go through the same struggles, never the same. People try to group in women's struggles as if they are all one thing, but that's never the case.
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| Magdalena Abakanowicz, Backs 1976-80 |
I really like backs, and the reason I chose it from this chapter is because of it's versatile. It combines political history, living experience, and uses the body without objectifying it. It shows history for what it is, right through the bodies using really cool textile work.
Chapter 13
quote 1
“We are making ourselves more visible by making positive images of black women, we are reclaiming history, linking national economics with colonialism, and racism with slavery, starvation, and lynchings. There are some women whose work revolves around home, childhood and family, all of which are inextricably linked with racism in education, the challenging of racial stereotypes, and breaking through tokenism and sexism. These, and the broader themes of black heroes and heroines of the struggle for equality and freedom, international politics and the theft of our culture over hundreds of years show a personal/general, general/political, political/personal spiral in our work.”
Reclaiming history as this quote says, is something I enjoy a lot. I think sometimes it can get to a point, but I think in this example, where they are using their life & experiences as expression. It's not trying to continue the cycle of hatred, it's using the experiences of that hatred to create something beautiful.
quote 2
"Resistance to the imagery of the female body was also challenged during the 1980s. As social debates over abortion rights, censorship, AIDS, and the representation of sexuality, male and female, heterosexual and gay and lesbian, intensified, some artists and critics called for more explicit confrontations with issues of the body and intimacy."
What I like about this quote is that it was a turning point in time. They wanted to use the body to confront these topics, and a lot of LGBTQ+ artists did so. I love that they went out there way to reject the western idea of what a woman is supposed to be.
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| Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Your Gaze Hits the Side of My Face), 1981 |
I picked this because I am a graphic designer, so I'm bias. But also, It directly attacks the male gaze. Through these words alone, it shows how women are often sexualized by men. While at the same time, it denies this gaze, the women in the picture isn't even looking back at the "gaze".
Chapter 14
quote 1
"Her photographs bypass ritual and essentialized representations of female power in order to explore feminine identity and the conditions of being female in ways that counter patriarchally constructed stereotypes of womanhood."
This quote appeals to me because it represents a shift toward more genuine, complex, and intimate depictions of womanhood. It reflects a key moment in feminist art where artists fought for imagery that acknowledges women’s full humanity rather than reducing them to symbols or stereotypes.
quote 2
"Since the mid-1990s, Yin Xiuzhen’s work has centered around the massive destruction and reconstruction of Beijing. Through various kinds of interventions, she seeks to personalize objects and make reference to the lives of people affected by sudden social, physical, and cultural change."
The reason I pick this quote is because she's rebuilding of Beijing into a human story, using objects to preserve memories and give voice to those uprooted by rapid cultural and urban change.
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| Mariko Mori, Empty Dream, 1995 |
I like this painting, because it's fantasy, not just fantasy though. It shows people's desires, it shows identity. It shows how fantasy, media, and technology shape the way we imagine femininity, identity, and the self.
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