Bianca Lopes
Art and Women
April 18th, 2017
1. Sophia Wallace on "Cliteracy"
"It's appalling and shocking to think that scientifically, the clitoris was only discovered in 1998...But really it may as well have never been discovered at all because there is such ignorance when it comes to the female body." - Wallace for Huffington Post |
| Sophia Wallace, Cliteracy Project |
“For me, this word ‘cliteracy’ perfectly breaks down the idea of the project. It’s this pithy, wonderful little word that encapsulates so much so quickly and so simply. It illuminates this idea of total illiteracy and incompetence when it comes to the female body.”
Wallace is able to capture the complexities of addressing women's sexuality in just one word: cliteracy - A clever play on words that attacks the ignorance and lack of awareness pertaining to female anatomy and pleasure.The "100 Natural Laws of Cliteracy" is a 10 foot by 13 foot neon sign that hangs from one of Wallace's installations. Her goals was to create something "monumental in scope and size" that could make "everyone, including a football player or a basketball player, feel small next to it." She places the word 'cliteracy' in the middle of the banner composed with scientific data and historical info that correlates with pop culture, porn, and human rights. Some of the 100 laws listed on the banner include: "1998 Dr. Helen O'Connell proved the clitoris is exponentially larger and more complex than once discovered." and "Saliva totally inadequate lube for penetration." Her brilliant way of combining feminism and female sexuality by using the word clit is decorated with the same modern and subtle collage efforts by Kruger and Hannah Hoch. It takes time to understand the message, though the visuals are very abrupt/startling at first glance.
100 Laws of Cliteracy, Sophia Wallace
Wallace also uses street art to expose more and more close-minded individuals to the significance of cliteracy. She tears apart the initial shock and awe of seeing the word by placing it in unique frameworks that draw the viewer to question its existence. The Cliteracy Project stimulates a conversation about female sexuality. She has partnered with doctors such as Pierre Foldes who thanks to his dedicated research, has been able to repair damages to the clitoris following female genital mutilation. FGM is one of the most serious signs of incompetence among males and their perception of female pleasure. The physical removal of the clitoris has always been viewed as the physical removal of a woman's desire (religiously) - when in reality men are ashamed and often afraid of female sexuality that may compromise their own masculinity. Wallace has also dedicated a fashion line to cliteracy. She designs men and women's clothing that will engage the viewer with cliteracy terminology. The T-shirts say "Solid Gold Clit" in gold letters to present a bold and disruptive lesson to those that may be incompetent to the validity of female sexuality and desirability.
She has also invented the "Clit Rodeo" - a live action piece dedicated to cliteracy awareness. Wallace has taken many of the strategies used by female painters in the impressionism and post impressionism era to divert the moral majority's firsthand perceptions of the clitoris and what it means to have one. She has used street art, collages, banners, and live pieces to illustrate the importance of the clitoris. The Cliteracy Project's message is delivered creatively through various "in your face" presentations that mirror the same strategies used by impressionist and modern artists developing works in the social movement age.
Clit Rodeo, Sophia Wallace
(Above:
Street art created by Wallace to provide more exposure to cliteracy.)
2. Amanda Valdez (click names for links)
“Valdez pulls on a
variety of histories, from quilting and sewing, to tiling and brick-laying, to
virtuoso gestural painting. Her works operate as a reflection of the body, and
the histories that the body holds in its physical makeup: scars, sags,
symmetries, and asymmetries, and a lifetime of emotions.” (DennyGallery.com) Amanda Valdez combines various techniques established by women in the Post Impressionism
and Modernism eras. She uses bright colors to create abrupt divides in
structure on the canvas. She uses quilted pieces and hand-sewn pieces on the
canvas in addition to paint in order to provide a more fruitful depiction of
the body by using different textures. She has had many successful exhibitions
since receiving her education at Hunter College and the Art Institute of Philadelphia, including Hot
Bed at Dot Fiftyone Gallery in Miami, Ladies’ Night at the Mead Art Museum at Amherst
College, The Mysteries at Koki Arts in Tokyo, Time & Tide with Caris Reid at Denny Gallery,
and Thick as Thieves at Denny Gallery.
Amanda Valdez
Storm Face, 2013
Gouache, acrylic paint, and graphite on paper
Amanda Valdez, Mirror Mirror, 2014
Fabric, acrylic paint, black gesso, and canvas
Amanda Valdez
Sublunary Secret, 2015
Raku Ware
3. Genesis Belanger
Genesis Belanger is a prominent contemporary sculptor. Her
works resemble Cubism and Modernism because they are disjointed pieces with
subtle meanings. She is able to capture a moment of confusion with various
items that may or may not be related. The body parts are placed in confusing
and awkward positions. The cigarette is bent just enough so that it may not break. The bird cage/gum ball machine series titled, For a Small Fee, is filled with bricks. They resemble a barren and misleading joy represented through tiny junctions of the economy such as gum ball machines. Similar to Valdez, Belanger received her Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts at the Art Institute of Chicago and acquired her Master's in Fine Arts at Hunter College in NYC.
Genesis Belanger, Pizza Ghost
4. Barbara Kruger
Barbara Kruger was born in 1945. She was arguably thrown into one of the most controversial periods in U.S history, growing up as a teenager throughout the sexual liberation movement and women's movements in the 1960s - well into the early 1990s. Her work consists of contrasting black and white images with bright red contours and decor that allows the piece to focus on the words and pronouns being used. The photographs are created on the computer and later blown up on billboard sized platforms. Her goal is to challenge the viewer with powerful language that is not normally popularized. It is focused on the individual's power dynamics in society. She uses messages of feminism and sexuality to implement social change within her artwork. Kruger's most interesting projects occurred during her time as art director for Mademoiselle Fashion Magazine.
She was exposed to the popular 1960's "Futura" font while working for Mademoiselle; therefore, she converted that same influential font into her photographs.
Your body is a Battleground was developed by Kruger for the 1989 Women's March on Washington. The inverted black and white photo is supported by red contour on the border of the image and disrupted symmetrically with the contoured words. Her photographs were able to capture the complexities of social movements that directly affected women and their security when engaging in civil disobedience.
5. Justine Hill
Justine Hill is a collage painter who works on depicting
various forms according to texture, color, or opacity. She primarily uses
crayon, paint, pencil, or pastel to combine a disarray of marks that are
unrelated in the beginning, but take form once she defines her landscape. The abstract colors of her paintings remind me of Sonia Delaunay’s color combinations
in her Prismes de Isotiques, but her sporadic technique aims for Jackson Pollock/Basquiat. She
wants to shift her focus from figure to landscape, but does not want to remove
the random factor of beginning her paintings. She focuses on whether or not content means anything to abstract paintings, and if it should be considered at all until the end of the painting. Hill received her BA in
Visual Arts at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts and
her Master’s in Fine Arts and Painting at the University of Pennsylvania in
Philadelphia. Below are pictures from her most recent exhibit at the Denny Gallery in NY titled, They Just Behave Differently (2016). (Click her name for link to full gallery)
Justine Hill, They Just Behave Differently, 2016
Justine Hill, The Boxed in Plastics, 2013
Works Cited:
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