GRSJ224/Feminism&FeministArt

What is Feminism?

Feminism grew out of lacking support by the society and promotion of social, economic, political and personal rights for women and to establish and achieve the same rights as men. The term “feminism” was first coined by a utopian socialist named Charles Fourier and it first appeared in France and Netherlands in 1872, Great Britain in 1890s, and the United States in 1910.The origins of feminism came from The French Revolution 1789. Depending on the culture and country, they had different goals. Feminist movements were used to advocate these social problems and there were divided into three waves. The first wave was a period of protest toward the promotion of contract, marriage, parenting and property rights. The second wave was relation to the ideas and actions of women’s liberation movement in the 1960s. The third wave was the continuation of the failures of second-wave feminism which began in the 1990s.

The Feminist Art Movement

The Feminist Art Movement emerged in late 1960s, where feminist artists sought to the change the world through their art, establishing world art.As artist Suzzane Lacy declared, the goal of Feminist art was to “influence cultural attitudes and transform stereotypes.”Not using a specific medium, artists presented message about women’s experience and their need for equality that spoke to a large body of audience. Together they established ways in which feminists voice could be heard of and spaces that did not exist, creating a path for their identity. By using the women’s perspective, art was now “not an object for aesthetic admiration, but could also incite the viewer to question the social and political landscape, and through this questioning, possibly affect the world and incite change toward equality.” Before feminism existed, women artists were discriminated around showcasing their art in exhibitions and galleries. As a solution, female artists produced institutions to promote women artists around the world of art. Feminist artists created creative ways by using non traditional media like performance, or materials incorporated which did not have the same male-dominated art forms carried. The feminist art movement reflects the arts produced with different mediums by artists to change the foundation of contemporary art.

Examples of Feminist Art

"Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?”

Linda Nochlin’s essay, “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” analyzed the privilege of previous white, male, Western art world that has argued about the criticized women’s position in art but also examine the underlying assumptions about gender and ability. It showcases the restriction access of women and their constraints in gaining entry into the art world.

Semiotics of the Kitchen (1975)

File:Semiotics.jpg

Semiotics of the Kitchen

Martha Rosler made an outblowing feminist video art that examines the relationship between women to their home and the stereotypical cooking show on televisions. Rosler herself in the video, runs through alphabetical index of kitchen utensils illustrating ironically with actions. The process of food production has changed into anger and violence. She wanted to protest and rebel against the representation of women’s roles in mass media.

Semiotics of the Kitchen - Martha Rosler Video Link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm5vZaE8Ysc

The Dinner Party (1974-1979)

File:1956135 orig.jpg

Dinner Party

An American Feminist artist, Judy Chicago, made an installation artwork in 1979 which was a symbolic and most well-known pieces of Feminist art and it is permanently installed in the Brooklyn Museum. It consists of a large triangle banquet table with thirty-nine notable women from history as her aim was to “end the cycle of omission in which women were written out of the historical record.”The names were divided into three groups of thirteen according to the timeline but also the significance of the number thirteen represented the number of people present at the Last Supper, which it is a juxtaposition as there were only men involved in that milestone.. The white porcelain tile floor called “The Heritage Floor” as part of this installation has listed 999 notable women inscribed on the floor. The triangle shaped table was a symbol of the female and also an equilateral to represent equality.

Rebellious Silence

File:Neshat-full-e1349924887975.jpg

"Rebellious Silence" - Women of Allah series

An Iranian artist, Shirin Neshat, living outside of her home country since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 made a series of black and white photographs named “Women of Allah” which examines the complexities of women’s identities. Through a series of symbols and through the lens of Western representation of Muslim oppressed women have been showcased through the veil, the gun, the text and poetry, and the gaze.In her most famous work, “Rebellious Silence”, Neshat herself is holding a gun against her body symmetrical and this split of her own body creates fragmentation and suggest internal contradictions. The veil and the gaze both suggest sexualized object of the male gaze, while the gun represents religious martyrdom and control. Through this series, Neshat brings a vehicle of fruitful message for the voiceless women of Iran to the rest of the world.

References

• Babaie, S., Hart, R. R., Princenthal, N., Neshat, S., & Detroit Institute of Arts. (2013). Shirin neshat (First []. ed.). Detroit: Detroit Institute of Arts.
• Broude, N., & Garrard, M. D. (2005). Reclaiming female agency: Feminist art history after postmodernism. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Brunsdon, C. (2005). In focus: Feminism, postfeminism, martha, martha, and nigella. Cinema Journal, 44(2), 110-116.
• Chicago, J., Borzello, F., & Gerhard, J. F. (2014). The dinner party: Restoring women to history. New York: The Monacelli Press.
• Deepwell, K. (1995). New feminist art criticism: Critical strategies. New York;Manchester;: Manchester University Press.
• Enright, R., & Walsh, M. (2009). Every frame a photograph: Shirin neshat in conversation. Winnipeg: Arts Manitoba Publications Inc.
• Gerhard, J. F., & Ebooks Corporation. (2013). The dinner party: Judy chicago and the power of popular feminism, 1970-2007. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia Press.
• Gianoulis, T. (2013). feminism
• Hannam, J. (2007). feminism (1st ed.). New York;Harlow, England;: Pearson/Longman.
• Heartney, E. (2007). After the revolution: Women who transformed contemporary art. Munich;New York;: Prestel.
• Johnson, C. (2013). Femininity, time and feminist art. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Jones, A. (2010). The feminism and visual culture reader (2nd ed.). New York;London;: Routledge.
• Jones, A., Cottingham, L., & UCLA at the Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center. (1996). Sexual politics: Judy chicago's dinner party in feminist art history. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA at the Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center in association with University of California Press, Berkeley.
• Leighninger, R. D. (1977). Art and sexual politics: Why have there been no great women artists? American Sociological Association. doi:10.2307/2064782
• Milani, F., & Barbara Gladstone Gallery. (2001). Shirin neshat. London;Milan;: Charta.
• Peters, S. (2011). feminism
• Semiotics of the kitchen. Rosler, M. and Art Institute of Chicago. Video Data Bank (Directors). (1975).[Video/DVD] Chicago, Ill: Video Data Bank.
• Shirin Neshat, “Artist Statement,” Signs Journal, http://signsjournal.org/shirin-neshat/
• The feminist art journal. The Feminist Art Journal,
• Walsh, C. M., & Nineteenth Century Collections Online. (1917). feminism. New York: Sturgis & Walton Co.
• Wekesser, C. (1995). Feminism: Opposing viewpoints (New ed.). San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press