Britny Rogers
Professor Caçoilo
Art and Women
05 December 2019
Five Contemporary Women Artist
Contemporary art is the art of today. This type of art is a combination of different materials and approaches that object to traditional boundaries. Many artists and viewers interpret the definition in different ways, which in turn creates a range of contemporary art types. To be labeled as contemporary art, art must be created in the 20th and 21st centuries, and the artist should be alive today, still creating art freely. When asked about a contemporary artist, the male artist Andy Warhol may come to mind first, with his Pop Art; But it is women who dominate this genre of art. Women such as Marlene Dumas, Judy Chicago, Shirin Neshat, Ann Hirsch, and Eunice Golden are female contemporary artists who dominated the art scene then and now. Contemporary women artists boldly address ideas such as race, addressing women in history, the life of women in the Middle East, female sexual expression, and sexuality.
Marlene Dumas, born in South Africa, is an artist whose art focuses on racially-based issues. She creates paintings, collages, drawings, prints, and installations. Dumas uses her intimate and yet estranged figurative portraits to tackle racism. She uses context from growing in an environment where the oppression of a group of people is apparent. One of her creations, figure 1, The White Disease, shown in one of her solo exhibitions, is an example of her work that takes her unique approach to racial and ethical intolerance. The painting is of a woman with a skin disease. She
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| Figure 1: Marlene Dumas, The White Disease, 1985 |
portrays the women with discolored, irritated skin. The white disease serves as the “disease” as white supremacy, similar to the way we refer to male patriarchy as a disease. The subject of the painting exhibits signs of illness to project how white supremacy affects both the physical and mental aspects of the condemned and the condemner.
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| Figure 2: Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party, 1974 - '79 |
Judy Chicago, born in Chicago, Illinois, is a well-known feminist artist. According to the National Museum of Women Artist, she creates decorative and utilitarian works, creates drawings and prints, paintings, and sculpture. She also works with textiles, clothing, and installation art. Her most iconic creation is The Dinner Party, figure 2, located at the Brooklyn Museum. This piece pays tribute to women's history by 39 custom place settings, and 999 other women are inscribed on the floor below the triangular table. The triangular shape symbolizes unity, equality, and strength. Unity and equality are what feminists strive for to achieve; The symbolism of strength projects what women are. This piece uses needlework, ceramics, and other popular crafts.
Shirin Neshat, born in Iran, is another well-known feminist artist. Her medium of art includes multimedia production, photography, and installation art. Her work focuses on a woman's role and oppression in Islamic society. Her collections of photographs called Woman of Allah are mostly photographs of herself in a chador or veil. In Iran, women are forced by Islamic law to wear a chador. It was vital for her to wear a chador because her artwork examines the physical, emotional, and
cultural implications of veiled women in Iran. Her famous work, the video Turbulent, shown in class, is a compelling piece. The video contrasts a man singing in front of an all-male audience, with a woman singing to an empty concert hall. This video essentially conveys the idea that one - women do not have an audience and two - no matter what or how women cry out for help, it is not acknowledged. Figure 3, Rebellious Silence, is an example of a photograph from her collection Woman of Allah.
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| Figure 3: Shirin Neshat, Rebellious Silence, 1974 |
Ann Hirsch is a young artist who uses video and performance art to communicate ideas about women’s sexual self-expression and female identity. She began as a youtube “camwhore” gaining over two million views on her videos. Hirsch is an advocate for the women’s liberation movement. Although young, she has participated in her own two-person screenplay “Playground” and an online exhibition, “Body Anxiety.” “Body Anxiety” has explicit content.
Eunice Golden is an expressionist painter who covers sexuality. She is known for exploring the sexuality of male nudes. At 92, her artwork is still being shown. Her work provokes traditional
norms because the nude male body was not supposed to be painted by women. Figure 4, Landscape #160, is a clear example of revolutionary work. She took this norm and completely flipped it to portray her message. Her art transforms the roles of males and females. The female now gazes upon the subject. Womens’ opinion and wants become the center of attention. This makes men vulnerable to and dependent on the female audience.
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| Figure 4: Eunice Golden, Landscape #160, 1972 |
To conclude, contemporary art is current art that comments on moving affairs. This subject of art, like others, is not male dominated. Women like Marlene Dumas, Judy Chicago, Shirin Neshat, Ann Hirsch, and Eunice Golden dominated the contemporary art scene to comment on controversial issues.
Works Cited
“National Museum of Women in the Arts.” National Museum of Women in the Arts | Home Page, 11 Dec. 2019, https://nmwa.org/.
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