Marilyn Minter

Marilyn Minter, Blue Poles, 2007

At a first glance, Marilyn Minter appears to be fueling the current unrealistic
expectations and portrayals of women by men in society today. However,
after closely observing the details and symbolism in her artwork, one may
come to the conclusion that it rather serves a purpose to challenge today’s
social and political issues. This painting of a woman who is wearing glittery
eye makeup while having a pimple on her forehead, symbolizes the idea that
there is no such thing as a perfect when it comes to the human body. Society
puts enormous amounts of pressure on women to be flawless and desirable
without considering how impossible that is to naturally achieve. The glitter
attracts attention to the woman’s face including her flaws and displays her
owning her power despite what society thinks she should look like.

This video called Smash represents power as well, much like the rest of Marilyn’s work. The idea behind
it is breaking the glass ceiling: the invisible barrier preventing women from
advancing in their careers as fast and easy as men. The jewels on the shoes
attract attention and showcase the glamorous image women are expected to
possess. The breaking of the glass represents the fact that this shiny and
objectified woman is still powerful despite the obstacles she faces.

Marilyn Minter, Satiated, 2003

Aside from her empowering paintings, Marilyn also creates provocative
work, similar to the work male artists produce. With this, she is challenging
the male perspective by attracting attention to her art, which is at an
enormous risk to be overlooked initially due to the sole fact that she is a
female artist. Paintings like this force the people of today’s society to open
up their eyes to the issues they are creating themselves in their own
everyday environment.