JoAnn Verburg Still Life with Serial Killers 1991
A still life usually contains a picture of flowers or fruit in a basket, or some object in a domestic setting. I found this portrait interesting because it contains the elements of a still life but instead of fruit or flowers, there’s a newspaper article about serial killers. In this way, the artist is showing the realistic side of this life that is filled with crime and murder. In Verburg’s summary on the MOMA website, she said that flowers she bought were covered by the newspaper that had the article on the serial killers in it. This is ironic because flowers are pure and beautiful while crime is tainted and ugly. In the picture itself, there are artistic postcards on the side, but it’s the ugly truth that is most conspicuous. Perhaps she is saying that bad news gets more attention than the good things that stay in the background. I also noted the expressions of the women in the postcards were all somber and thought that it related to the melancholy of the crime-filled newspaper. I felt that the positioning of the vase in this portrait was important as well. It is off centered slightly sharing the spotlight with a postcard. This could be the artist’s way of saying that on an every-day basis, people are dealing with more than one thing at a time.
Valie Export Genital Panic 1969
I felt like this picture exemplified radicalism. Already knowing her history that she wanted to counter male-dominating artists and that she changed her name so it would have no connection to her father or husband gave me the background needed to make more deductions from the picture. I noticed the picture did a good job of showing her rebellious nature through her teased hair, leather jacket, rifle, and crotchless pants. The gun shows her ferocity and confidence. The superimposition of the photo six times makes me feel like her message is really important, and not something most people can just look past. She is sitting on the bench with her legs spread open. I find this interesting because her facial expression is very nonchalant, but at the same time she is expressing her point that her genitalia is her image. I think both of these pictures attracted me because they exceeded normal bounds.
Nicole Lennon
