For as long as we can remember, women have been fighting for equality with men, and although women seem to have achieved a lot within the past decades, it is definitely not enough to stop. Perhaps we won’t start a new movement or create protests in the streets, but we will create art and share it.
Sanja Ivekovic has believed in the idea of promoting female equality through art for a long time and her works, now being displayed at the Museum of Modern Art, are a retrospective covering over 35 years. Her work is being referred to as full of “unexpected twists and thought-provoking turns” because it is saturated with shocking images that create an unforgettable message of the importance of women’s rights.
Sanja Ivekovic's “Women's House (Sunglasses),” from 2004.
For example, Ivekovic’s most recent works focus on violence against women. “Women’s House (Sunglasses),” which is a continuing work, combines images of beautiful fashion models wearing sunglasses with short, first-person accounts from abused women who often wear sunglasses to cover their bruises. The images are unforgettable. Similarly, for the “Paper Women” series (1976-77) Ivekovic took images of models from magazines and scratched, tore and defaced them in shockingly effective ways, in order to imply acts of violence.
Sanja Ivekovic's works at the Museum of Modern Art include “Lady Rosa of Luxembourg,” (2001).
The biggest, most overpowering piece of them all is “Lady Rosa of Luxembourg,” a sculpture in the MoMA’s atrium that consists of a life size statue of a pregnant Greek goddess displayed atop an obelisk. At the base is a “jarring combination of epithets and historic catchphrases (Whore, Kitsch, La Résistance).” It was initially exhibited in Luxembourg in 2001 fairly close to a similar statue that was “unpregnant,” therefore it created a lot of anger, arguably taking away from its purpose of increasing awareness of abuse of women and children. Its efforts, nonetheless, are extremely vital in our society. Female equality cannot be forgotten– so go see the exhibit…
… and check out this article to learn more: Venus Rising From Her Pretty Prison.
A touchy subject like this makes for a great discussion! Therefore, I’d love to push the limits a little bit.
I’m going to ask if an exhibit like this may be emphasizing an old wound and perhaps making it bleed again. Allow me to explain. Although men and women may not be “equal” in the art world due to a history that we’re all familiar with, we have made giant strides since then to balance it the best we can at a pace that is realistic and tolerable. For example, when I look at pieces from centuries ago and medieval times, I almost always assume that the artist was male. When I walk through an exhibit like Frans Haals, portraits and pieces like that are usually from men. However, in modern art, I can look at a piece and have no clue if the artist is male or not! I usually assume it is, but that’s just from a biased opinion based on the past.
My question is, for an exhibit like this: what is this exhibit about women trying to get across? Is there a message or is just for the amusement of sharing history? Maybe I’m overthinking it, but I believe artists should be careful with the messages they send, so they don’t exacerbate any wounds that the past has created.
Women have accomplished a lot since the 1960s in terms of equality. However, as you noted, a lot just isn’t good enough when 95% of domestic violence victims are still women. Although women have taken great strides in the workforce, they still earn 78% of their male counterparts’ paychecks. Women make up the majority of the US, yet are still considered a “minority group” according to sociologists.
Sanja Ivekovic work is a not-so-shocking portrayal of gender inequality. 20th century artist Hannah Wilke (mentioned in your attached article) is another artist who challenged society’s notion of women. In S.O.S. Starification Object Series (1974 -1982), Wilke photographed herself in various glamorous pin-up poses, her body scarred by wads of chewing gum. Wilke quite literally strips down society’s objectification of women by disrupting the pleasure of the viewer’s gaze through the “scars” on her body. Wilke explained that she chose gum because “it’s the perfect metaphor for the American woman – chew her up, get what you want out of her, throw her out and pop in a new piece.”
Both men AND women need to be made aware of the inequality they face everyday, whether it be overt or covert. The only way to end the objectification of women and the inequalities they face is by increasing public awareness. And this is why Sanja Ivekovic’s work is so important.
The questions this blog and exhibit raise are quite interesting. I would have to say that I disagree with Shane’s argument. I do not believe that the message that the exhibit is trying to portray is only “opening more wounds.” I think it does the complete opposite. A feminist exhibit could just be a feminist exhibit. Just like any artist is entitled to, and even encouraged to, art is supposed to express the artists opinion on the state of the world they live in. This exhibit is supposed to display art that promotes the equality of men and women. Just like we went to see de Kooning, for the experience of seeing “modern art”, we can go see a “feminist” gallery to see “feminist” art. It’s as simple as that. Here’s an article on a famous artist who is also known for her feminist art work. I think you’d enjoy it!
http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/feminist/Barbara-Kruger.html