Gender and contemporary art - Essay Example

Gender and contemporary art Table of contents 2. Introduction 3. Gender context of contemporary art 4. Post World War II tendencies in art 5. Gender differences in contemporary art of some regions 6. Conclusion 1. Contemporary art is very diverse in all its kinds and forms. Contemporary art as a very important part of our life influences all sides of human activity and plays significant role in our world understanding. Gender definition in art goes back to the time of our civilization becoming and has always been important for our art comprehension, and we often behold works of art through gender prism and realize as well contemporary as ancient art from this point of view: "In real life our culture defines for us appropriate gender roles, roles which are sometimes restrictive and difficult to escape...Gender, after all, is a social construct" (Sullivan M. A., 2002). If one pays attention to the historical development of art, it is possible to see that gender pays significant role in paintings, sculpture and other kinds of art. For example, in medieval art male and female nude figures had special sense, and our perception of these masterpieces occurs through the gender realization. Male nude figures were associated with heroics, family fathers1 and often - with real historical characters: "The idea of the heroic male nude continued well into the 19th century; here Napoleon, who certainly wore a fabulous uniform on the field of battle, is sculpted like a nude Greek god. Perish the thought that his nudity has any sexual resonance" (Sullivan M. A., 2002). Nude female figures were associated differently in different times and epochs: they were symbols of sexual desire, fertility, motherhood, family and so on2. So, gender plays significant role in art of all historical periods, and our time is not exception from this point of view. What is the role and context of gender in contemporary art This paper will explain the answer in the next parts. 2. There is an idea and opinion that the role of gender in contemporary art is important and significant, and people often behold modern art masterpieces with gender idea realization. This idea is interesting and controversial. It is increasingly important in this age of numerous varieties of contemporary art forms and numerous approaches to the gender role in contemporary art. Many people believe that there are no gender differences in contemporary art, and that the gender idea in art is more inherent for ancient and medieval art, but these people overlook the fact that in many modern art masterpieces this idea is rather appreciable, and we as humans cannot ignore the gender idea in such significant kind of our activity as art. Furthermore, there are some art branches today which pay appropriate attention to the gender differences or in contrary the gender similarities, and many artists underline these ideas in their works of art. In this essay, I will argue that the role of gender in contemporary art is important and significant. Gender context of contemporary art, as well as gender differences in contemporary art of some regions will be also discussed. 3. Today the gender context of contemporary art is under influence of feminist approach to art. Modernism in contemporary art assumes that an artist uses freedom in his or her artistic experiments, but female artists today are not inclined to underline their female identity in visual art: "Even though modernism seemed to offer artists more freedom and autonomy, for women artists this meant the denial of their gender identity whereas the whole history of modernist art can be interpreted as the glorification of male creativity and sexuality" (Kivimaa K., 2000). Many artists today assert that there is "male art" and "female art". In other hand, there is a tendency of unisex in contemporary art. In this sort of art gender attributes are mixed, and women and men are demonstrated in unusual roles: "The principle of mimesis could be an effective tool for undermining various kinds of stereotypes, and it is no coincidence that this principle is so often used by women artists who deal with gender identity" (Pachmanova M., 2001). So, the main gender priorities in contemporary art have changed today. They differ very much from those which were popular in medieval art and art of other historical epochs. It is interesting to trace gender differences in contemporary art of some regions - it can help to understand the essence of the issue using significant examples of contemporary trends in modern art. 4. After World War II one can trace such trends in art as conceptual art, performance art, feminist art, pop art and graffiti art. Contemporary art in post war epoch covers such important themes as politics, economics, gender ideas, sexuality, war, human rights and many others. Contemporary art has its own features which differ it from the art of other historical periods: "Since the late 1960s and 70s, contemporary society has been significantly influenced by pluralism and a wide range of social and cultural movements and issues - including those related to Postmodernism, feminism, environmentalism and the rights of indigenous peoples" (Ideas about Contemporary Art). It is interesting to analyze the gender idea in some of art works of different art branches. One of the most significant American surrealists Robert Colescott painted a picture Big Bathers: Another Judgment3 in 1984: The picture has a mythological plot. We see three naked goddesses who argue for the apple thrown by Eris (in the centre). The contest would be won by the fairest of them. The picture "reflects Colescott's preoccupation with sexism, while questioning preconceived notions of beauty. He provokes the viewer to reflect on skin color, sex and traditional canons of physical perfection in a racially diverse and culturally complex world" (Post World War American Art). Another example of work of art which presents the idea of gender is Andy Warhol creativity. One of his works is Diane Von Furstenberg, 1984: The picture depicts a woman with brightly expressed face lines and confident sight. The picture expresses self-confidence of a woman of our days and differs very much from those made in medieval time when social role of women and men were expressed more traditionally. Photography became one of the most expressive arts in the second half of the 20th century. There are many good examples of masterpieces with clearly expressed gender idea among the works of this art. One of them is Claude L'Hotel Rue des beaux Arts, 1988: It was made by Bettina Rheims. This is a picture of a striptease artist. The picture has bright gender idea which presented in naturalistic manner: "So there was already a hint of things to come: from the peculiar staged quality of the images, to a predilection for female nudes treated as portraits" (Bettina Rheins). Vanessa Warren is another example of a talented photographer who embodied the gender idea in her works. One of her untitled works depicts a girl in natural background:. The picture is full of natural beauty and merges the naturalism of a beautiful human body with the natural landscape: "Vanessa Warren's fashion images are sensual and symbolic, inspired by the melancholic works of Renaissance painters such as Caravaggio and Michelangelo" (Vanessa Warren) 5. Tendency of universality in art can be seen today in many regions. In Estonia, for example, feminist approach to art led to the attempts of women artists to work outside of gender idea in contemporary art, there is a situation "to which many women artists quite understandably reacted with a desire to engage in the "universal" and not to be restricted by gender in one's art" (Kivimaa K., 2000). This is the feature of feminist art in the world. In Czech Republic in 1993 a show of male artists was held. It was called Just like women. This show was very indicative from the position of gender idea in contemporary art. The artists tried to identify themselves with women and underlined the mixture of male and female roles in our society. This tendency in contemporary art reflects social and cultural situation in our life, when men and women are equal; social roles of women and men are already not the same as were last century or even a half century ago: women have the same opportunities to earn money and take part in political and economic life as men have, and in other hand the role of men has changed. The role of family in our society, its function and social value has been also transformed. So, this transformation is objectively reflected in contemporary art. Nevertheless, gender and sexuality can be seen in many works of art today. For example, in Finland women artists pay appropriate attention to the gender idea in art, but "very few male artists have ventured to tackle problems related to gender and sexuality in their art. For women artists, however, gender identity - its hybridity and multiplicity - is a theme of focal significance" (Tihinen J.-H., 2002). Often the gender idea in contemporary art is presented from political point of view, especially in such new democratic countries as Poland that was shown in Architectures of Gender exhibition: "Architectures of Gender presents art with a sense of political consciousness, but without a unified agenda, struggling to be both beautiful and meaningful for a global audience" (Heuer M., 2003). 5. I have argued that the role of gender in contemporary art is important and significant. But the gender idea in contemporary art differs from that of ancient, medieval art and art of other historical epochs. While in ancient and medieval art the role of gender was associated with traditional family and social values, the role of gender in contemporary art is more complicated, as was shown above. This view will become increasingly dominant in the coming century, because the social roles of women and men are still transforming that is reflected in modern works of art. Many of these ideas can never be resolved to everybody's satisfaction, but the fact is that mass culture is reflection of real life, and gender role in our society is eloquently shown in contemporary masterpieces made by modern artists. Sources Bettina Rheins. Eyestorm. (http://www.eyestorm.com/artist/Bettina_Rheims.aspx) Heuer M. Architectures of Gender: Contemporary Women's Art in Poland. (2003). Brooklyn Rail. (http://www.thebrooklynrail.org/arts/june03/poland.html) Ideas about Contemporary Art. VCEART. (http://www.vceart.com/explore/ideas/page.1.html) Kivimaa K. Introducing Sexual Difference into Estonian Art. Feminist Tendencies during the 1990s. (2000). N.Paradoxa: Issue No. 14, 2001. (http://web.ukonline.co.uk/n.paradoxa/kivimaa.htm) Pachmanova M. The Muzzle: Gender and Sexual Politics in Contemporary Czech Art. (2001). Mainview. Featured Articles. (http://www.artmargins.com/content/feature/pachmanova2.html) Post World War American Art. Delaware Art Museum. (http://www.delart.org/collections/post_wwii/p_wwii.html) Sullivan M. A. On What a Difference a Difference Makes: Gender in the Visual Arts. (2002). (http://www.bluffton.edu/sullivanm/forum/gender.html) Tihinen J.-H. Finnish Contemporary art. The 1990s. (2002). Virtual Finland. (http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/news/showarticle.aspintNWSAID=27064) Vanessa Warren. @Britart.com. (http://www.britart.com/artist/Vanessa_Warren_all.aspxret=browse/photos.aspx) Read More