Essay

In this report I want to discuss the concepts of art and gender, I will look at different artists that make work that sparks thought and conversation about gender as we know it now, and as we have in the past.

Gender in art has always been pushed to the foreground, male and female figures have often been used in art. One good example of gender representation is the Sleeping Venus by Giorgione, made in 1510 oil on canvas. 

This is a depiction of a female figure in a symbolic and conceptual perspective, representing feminine fertility. At first this work looked a bit strange to me. I thought, initially, that the combination of a female nude and a countryside landscape was very bizarre. The foreground and background look very unusual as well, the sleeping Venus looks like she was painted in a studio with soft lighting and it looks like she was almost collaged onto a painting of a countryside I also noticed that Giorgione placed the Venus across the whole width of the painting.

Her hands are positioned in a slightly erotic way with her fingers curled inwards, suggesting masturbation as well as the fact her eyes are closed, allowing the viewer to unknowingly look at her entirely. Another interesting idea of how the female body was used in art, for a males gaze but I thought it was interesting to also note that at the time of this Painting Venice was defending its claims on the terra firma, its holds on land. A hard thing to do for a small island but it was a very important part of Venetian history making me think that Venice is symbolising Victory.

On the other hand Classic art presentations of male nudity, such as in Greek sculpture, underline the physical perfection of the male body, representing superiority and public authority. Yet domestic and everyday scenes depicting roles of men and women had less importance than symbolic representations of gender. In the past gender attributes served to highlight and promote the human and the superhuman characteristics of gods, goddesses, and mythological figures. Female figures in Roman art frequently represent qualities such as justice or piety or symbolise wisdom and victory, like is shown on the sleeping Venus above.

Gender roles over time have changed dramatically and the lines between male and female roles have blurred. The specifics regarding these gendered expectations may vary considerably among cultures. There is ongoing debate as to what extent gender roles and their variations are biologically determined, and to what extent they are a social construct.

I want to look at two different Artists who make work around the theme of Gender. The first being Laurie Simmons and the second is Richard Prince. I picked these two artists as one talks about female gender and identity, and the other male gender and identity  in a more current way which I thought would be an interesting contrast from the more traditional art I spoke of before.

Laurie Simmons

Simmons is an artists who works mostly in photography. In 1970 she  started a series called ' Interiors'. Simmons started arranging dolls and doll house furniture into miniature scenes that she would photograph.

Woman watching TV 1978

Purple woman. Gray Chair. Green Rug 1978

“Setting up small rooms with dolls in them was a way for me to experience photography without taking my camera out to the street,” she explained. “I felt that I could set up my own world right around me, without ever having to leave the studio.”

These images were her own replications of domestic scenes from 1950's adverts you might see in different Advertisements targeted at women trying to sell Ideas like what is the idealized family home, what makes a good childhood or a good house wife.

 Some seem like just dolls organised in different positions. Others, like Blonde/Red Dress/Kitchen seem to be a housewife in the middle of preparing a meal or fixing a bath, or, as if taking a break from her housework, sitting in the living room with the television or newspaper nearby, giving her more of a set character.

Simmons describes these as:

 “a generalized memory of something that seemed sweet and terrifying and abstract and whitewashed.”

Blonde/ Red Dress/ Kitchen 1978

Blonde/ Red Dress/ Bathroom 1978

She also created a series in the early 2000's that is called ' The Instant Decorator'. In this series Simmons was Inspired by a 1976 home makeover manual, ''The Instant Decorator.'' Simmons uses Objects that she feels relate to our society's ideas of adult fantasies and gender roles. She then places and photographs them in a way she feels reflects a woman’s role in society.

The instant Decorator Yellow Bathroom 2001

The instant Decorator Yellow Kitchen 2003

The instant Decorator Plad livingroom 2004

The instant Decorator pink, green bedroom slumber party 2004

Personally I find these pretty interesting from a females perspective on how things were presented to women and the role they played, or were told they should play in society as well as the things they should want were sold to them in Advertisement.I like the colours Simmons used also I like how bitter sweet it all looks. It reminds me of  playing with paper cut out dolls when I was a at my Grandmothers house.

Richard prince

Richard Prince is an American Painter and photographer who is well known for his Photographic images of the cowboys from the Marlboro adverts. I will not be discussing the controversy of these images in this report but instead I will be looking at how his work looks at the male gender.

Richard Prince, Untitled (Cowboy), chromagenic print, 1989

Richard Prince, Untitled (Cowboy),  1949

In This 'Cowboy' series every image was taken from a Marlboro cigarette advert. These adverts showed action scenes of cowboys, with big open spaces, lassos, powerful horses and big blue skies. These Advertisements are trying to portray of a sort of lost masculinity, to a time when being man meant being free, stern, independent and powerful.

 In each image you can see that It is depicting a big sense freedom, a sense of direction and strength even if that is over powering or taming a wild horse. They use the Marlboro man and paint him in an idolized way with things like the compositions of the photographs are big open spaces with just a man and a horse. A man wrangling a wild horse down with nothing but a lasso. I think they are also trying to sell a fantasy of letting go of modern stresses and responsibilities by selling this idea of a independent man.

When prince took photos of these photos it was to hold up a mirror on how current society sees men, sells to men, speaks about men and how it appeals to the male ego as well as how men view themselves and other men.

 Cowboys are seen in this way, but that is actually a romanticized role of a cowboy. In reality cowboys were very low class, over worked and underpaid men. They would work hard all day herding cattle and often went hungry. Hollywood has since used the idea of a man in vast open spaces - working hard and working in solitude, working for himself in a romantic way that appeals to our modern way of life.

His work is interesting because it brings up questions like what does it mean to be a man? how should you act? How should you want to be and how should you want to be treated? But maybe, in my opinion, above all else, how do you want people to see you ? I think this work bring up a lot of questions about masculinity and really bring a lot of questioning to the idea of being male and what that entails.

 As I wrote before gender in history has always depicted as men being strong leaders and the roles have blurred as we have moved forward but to what extent? do men still feel the pressures to be like the cowboy in the adverts or do they feel differently now social pressures have shifted.

Both of these artists are very interesting to me because they talk about how the male and female can/could be sold to. If you can target a sex with advertisement it shows you how much 'gender' is a social construct, in my opinion. On one hand you have an artist talking about how an idea was sold to women, she uses different things composition, colour, dolls and a time period to show you her own views on gender roles as she saw them growing up and how she feels about it now. On the other side you have an artist's talking about the male perspective on masculinity also by using a time period but showing you how it is used today and how it is used to create an idea. 




Word count : 1,450

References:

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