Guest Blogger, Marjan Melkert Support RAWA – Learning to read, 2010, mixed media, 35 x 35 cm Besides in depictions of saints, the strivings of women have seldom been presented as examplary for both sexes in either word or image. Dutch artist Marjan Melkert aims at a revision. In her painting series ‘Herstories’ she calls [...]
Madame Realism, an all-female exhibition at Marres in Maastricht (NL), features art objects pertaining to the interior which are as diverse in their form as in their creators’ approach to this domain. The 17 artists presented in the exhibition appropriate the ambiguous setting of the domestic as stage for female artistic self-empowerment, where the domestic becomes public and the personal interpersonal.
Untitled, Josephine Meckseper, 2005, courtesy Timothy Tailer Gallery Two weeks ago I discussed the representation of women in the face of growing consumerism in mid-20th century women’s art. This week, I will focus on consumer critique in a single contemporary artist’s work, which is often so complex and fraught with meaning, it needs careful reflection [...]
The representation of women in visual culture, as in advertising and art, has been a major issue in feminist discourse. After all, such images can not only be said to constitute a reflection of prevalent notions, but also possess influential power of their own. Second Wave feminist artists of the 1970s produced powerful expressions of [...]
Fall of last year, Lady Gaga caught the interest of world-wide media and stirred much controversy with one of her provocative outfits. On several occasions, the pop star wore a dress made of raw meat, supplemented with matching meat accessories. While it was much debated whether there is a message to the outfit, what the [...]
“Real art, like the wife of an affectionate husband, needs no ornaments. But counterfeit art, like a prostitute, must always be decked out.”–Leo Tolstoy, What is Art?, 1898. In the mid-20th century, art was dominated by a rather formal language of abstraction. Minimalism, Formalism & Conceptualism made up the artistic mainstream. To call an art work decorative was to deride it.
ART BLOG This Saturday, April 16th, the activist groups Craftivist Collective and Climate Rush will undertake a Railway Adventure in protest against the planned 31% raise of train fares in the UK, and its potential social and environmental consequences.
Frauke Ehlers kicks off a new series of blogs dedicated to feminist styles in art, beginning with traditional and radical textile crafts.
The Meat Dress Controversy: How Original is the Copy?
Did all of us forget that the design of the dress was by a fashion designer and not Gaga?
The de...
The Meat Dress Controversy: How Original is the Copy?
Gaga as well can skin herself to stand in her own meat. How ridiculous a singer can become in the...
Mid-20th Century Women Artists' Critique of Consumer Culture and its Representation of Women
Wow, I didn't know there were women Pop Artists, much less that their art was so sharply critical...
Mid-20th Century Women Artists' Critique of Consumer Culture and its Representation of Women
At last someone addresses this issue. I was a kid during the mid 20th century but an aware one. ...
"Just" Decoration? The Hidden Implications of the Depreciation of Ornamental Art
Important post, thank you! It's been too easy to dismiss some art as "decorative art"--and for al...
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In this podcast, cultural anthropologist Gina Athena Ulysse read from her poetry and discusses the narratives of her homeland Haiti, and how she strives to develop new stories in spoken word and performance poetry.
Marina DelVecchio brings up an older text, published in 1971, that introduces readers to ten obscure and famous women circa the 1800′s. Eve Merriam’s Growing Up Female in America: Ten Lives depicts the authentic first-person voices of women who "found the will to trudge forward into colleges and acquire degrees that went beyond ‘MPM — Mistress of Pudding Making — and RW — Respectable Wife’" (13).
Maya Angelou’s Empowered …: Marina DelVecchio discusses the empowered nature of Maya Angelou's girlhood... 
Alice Walker and Zora Nea…:
Sometimes friendships just happen when we meet someone. An instant spar... 
Susan B. Anthony and Eliz…:
On Valentine's Day, people are often wrapped up in gifts, dedications, ... 
The Help: Perpetuating th…: Mayra David writes about The Help and the history of the Mammy stereotype i... 
Squash Pie: a short story…: Part 1 of "Squash Pie," the story that is the culmination of Melissa Corlis... 
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