5 Women Artists

Cindy Guzman
Professor Cacoilo
Art and Women

When modern and contemporary art is identified, we think about how they both interpret the present. The difference between contemporary and renaissance is that the women have transcended into not only the subject but also the creators. Post WW2 there was a push to address the “female” - domestic life, the family, maternity, self-sacrifice and romance. Women artists were challenging the way they are spectated by creating the conversation of feminism. Feminism in many cases, refers to gender inequality, injustice, empowerment and retrieval.

Betye Saar, The Liberation of Aunt Jemima, 1972

There were various advocating women like Betye Saar. Women who addressed injustices from history in relation to inequality of gender and race. Betye Saar knew that the way to bring attention to the issue was to relate her piece to a "hand-grenade," something that is thrown out in front of you and is inevitable. She wanted to take back her power as a Black woman and hoped to eclipse the message of the original Aunt Jemima's role. Saar intended to create a positive view and give liberation to the injustice of how black women were perceived during the early 1900s. Betye Saar exploited this image to take back the idea of a black woman and change her into being a warrior.

Pan Yuliang, Nudes and Masks, 1956

Then there was unique women like Pan Yuliang, who went from being sold into a brothel to becoming the fascination of the Chinese art world. Her work was criticized by government officials and conservative critics mostly because she painted nudes. The sequence of being in a brothel, to becoming a concubine (a mistress), to a painter inspired directors like Gong Li to exploit the expected gender role as a Chinese woman. Her life taught us the perseverance of taking back our bodies as empowerment through retrieval. 

Frida Kahlo, The Broken Column, 1944

Using trauma to create conversation in relation to retrieval of ones body was constantly seen through the art of women. Women like Frida Kahlo used pain and suffering as a constant topic in their work (Google Arts & Culture). In relation to trauma, she depicted her experiences along with an attitude that presented as strong and defiant. In her piece, The Broken Column, we see her using symbolic iconography that referred to the constant pain she faced in her romantic relationship with Diego Rivera. Again we see the correlation of how all of her tragedies, physical and emotional took a toll on her body yet she remained with the attitude of a strong woman. Frida Kahlo's work depicted her role as a woman and how she coped with it. It allowed spectators to take accountability and realize the power that followed self sacrifice. 

Marina Abramović and ULAY, Rest Energy, 1980

When thinking about self sacrifice and how letting yourself be in a position where you're uncomfortable and not in control, Marina Abramović is a perfect example. Marina Abramović is a performance artist who creates conversation based on pushing the perimeters of sacrifice. She also does a great job of "taking back" the idea of her body being for speculation and more as a subject included in her work. In her performance Rest Energy, Marina spoke of it to be one of the most difficult pieces in her life because she was not in charge of the situation. It was consisted upon Ulay and her holding an arrow with their weight that pointed directly to their heart. You could hear the beating of their hearts intensifying as the performance continued. She made this piece to revolve around complete and total trust between her and Ulay. Many could argue that Marina wanted to exploit the idea of  the domestic "female" self  sacrifice and romance, to where it should be mutual balance of 

sacrifice and romance in relationship. 

Chitra Ganesh, Sultana's Dream, 2018

In a world where women are perceived as many things but progressive and successful it is important to take forth the stereotypes and prove them wrong. Like many female artists, Chitra Ganesh wants to portray the challenge of diminishing society’s preconceived “roles” that should be inherited by any woman. In fact, one thing Ganesh is successful at is inviting viewers into this realm of female superiority and the strength amongst them. Predominantly, Chitra Ganesh focuses on Bengali women and the ideal behind the zenana —the secluded interiors within the household designated for women. Her work praises and reconstructs this surrealist, futuristic land that is disciplined and guarded by Bengali women. Not only is her work refreshing because of its futuristic grip but also it advocates a stance where Bengali Muslim women being educated should not be unordinary. It should be rather common for them to hold an equal sort of stance in society as much as men do. Now to say that her audience should primarily be women is actually an understatement. Her visual hierarchy that is portrayed throughout the women in her sci-fi imaginary are important to make viewers, who are appalled by women empowerment, uncomfortable thanks to the possibilities the unknown future holds.

When the two worlds of feminism and contemporary art collide, often women artists find the empowerment they seek from their past. American writer Jane Leavy says that “trauma fractures comprehension as a pebble shatters a windshield. The wound at the site of impact spreads across the field of vision, obscuring reality and challenging belief.” The combination of injustice along with empowerment influenced many women artists who rose during the renaissance era and are still climbing past postmodernism. 

Works Cited:

Bevier, Dawn. “Trauma and Creativity: the Link Between Suffering and Artistic Genius.” Medium, P.S. I Love You, 16 Nov. 2019, psiloveyou.xyz/trauma-and-creativity-the-link-between-suffering-and-artistic-genius-ff0fdac2b442.

“Pan Yuliang.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Mar. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Yuliang.

“The Broken Column - Frida Kahlo - Google Arts & Culture.” Google, Google, artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-broken-column-frida-kahlo/EgGMbMFBQrAe3Q?hl=en.

“The Kitchen.” The Kitchen: Chitra Ganesh: Her Garden, a Mirror, thekitchen.org/event/chitra-ganesh-her-garden-a-mirror.

Betye Saar- The Liberation of Aunt Jemima


MoMa audio - Rest Energy, Marina Abramović