Post Modern Era
Diversity was one of many themes in the contemporary art scene of the postmodern era. The art world had opened up to allow both men and women of diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds a voice in the mainstream western art world.
Right next to the theme of Diversity having a part in the dramatic shifting women’s roles was the women's movement. Women began to get politically involved in demanding equal pay for equal work along with better access to childcare and abortion rights.
I am going to be examining three artists that are known as icons of feminist art and a couple of their works.
The Beastie Parade by Betye Saar, Color etching on cream wove paper, 1964.
You can view this piece here:
The first artist is Betye Saar, through this artist’s prints and assemblage work she uses symbolism to attribute meaning to black women’s place in the world. The first piece I'm going to be examining is The Beastie Parade (1964). This was an early print etching and aquatint with hand additions. The artist uses color to depict a gathering of “beasts.” This print is fantastical and makes me feel like it would be in a children book with its bright colors and mystical narrative that is evoked. Saar’s early prints are said to point to her desire to use her power as a conjurer to insert herself into mythology.
The artist’s use of bright colors enhance the maiden and present the beasts in an almost frozen in time composition. While the black background also enhances the maiden and the beasts and drew me into the almost texture like detail on the figures. I really enjoy this print by Betye Saar and find it mesmerizing the different interpretations different viewers may have.
You can view this piece here:
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/167631
The next piece by Betye Saar I am going to be looking at is Black Girl’s Window, 1969. Wooden window frame with paint, cut-and-pasted printed and painted papers, daguerrotype, lenticular print, and plastic figurine. Saar has described Black Girl’s Window as autobiographical since it was made in the year of her divorce, the Watts riots, and the Black revolution. The artist's use of symbols and found objects was able to create new thought around narrative and history.
When looking at this piece of art I feel an illusion of depth and like the girl in the window is so close but so far. I think this is a very powerful print done by Betye Saar. The detail and use of color in the smaller boxes above the girl was very impressive to me. I also found it interesting when looking at Saar’s work that she often had some type of lion in many of her pieces and it was cool to find out that she is a Leo and the Leo is represented by the lion.
You can view this piece here:
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-overlooked-black-women-altered-course-feminist-art
You can view Flower Sniffer by Emma Amos here:
https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/222925
The next artist I am going to look at from the postmodern era is Emma Amos. Emma Amos was another artist who made a statement in feminist art. Two early paintings by Emma Amos that I am going to be looking at today are featured in “We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965–85” (April 21–Sept. 17, 2017), a group exhibition organized by the Brooklyn Museum. Sandy and Her Husband, 1973 and Flower Sniffer, a 1966 self-portrait by Amos, are displayed side-by-side in the show.
Sandy and Her Husband is a great example of Amo’s style of work during this period. Her images focused largely on color and composition just as they do here. Amos depicts a couple dancing and in the moment together. This looks to be an intimate scene at first glance but then you notice the insert of her self portrait behind them. Amos' use of line in this painting creates different elements in the piece. The way that she painted the couples cheeks touching and the two holding each other allows you to feel that sense of intimacy created. The way she used shading to create different ranges in different areas was very intriguing to me while examining all the little details.
In the piece Flower Sniffer, Amos paints herself as an agile figure in a red dress, innocently peering out towards the viewer while holding a bouquet of colorful flowers. In painting this self portrait Amos, as a young black woman was staking her claim in the heavily white male New York art world of this time. Amos paints herself in an extensive abstract field of paint, taking in the smell of the flowers in her hand. The artist appears to be turning to the viewer’s gaze, creating her own place within her work as she arranges the flowers.
The last artist I am going to be looking at from the postmodern era that played a large role in the feminist art movement is Judy Chicago. Judy Chicago has been challenging the male dominant art world since the 1960s. Judy Chicago’s style in this time period was less abstract and more accessible imagery.
You can view this piece here:
https://www.artsy.net/artwork/judy-chicago-through-the-flower-3
The first painting Through the Flower, 1973 Sprayed acrylic on canvas. This piece is a vagina depicted as a round element or opening. When first viewing this painting it was not hard to be able to see it as Optical art. In fact, I am not a fan of this painting because I could not look at it for too long without feeling a bit dizzy. The way the lines of the circle or vagina open almost in a swirl like way did not match well with me when viewing the painting more up close. I think her use of color and it fading out in the lines also plays a role in the way the eye perceives it. The use of light color creating the sense of light coming from the opening makes the image and message very accessible to me as a viewer.
You can view this installation here:
https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/dinner_party
The last piece I am going to be examining, also by Judy Chicago, is The Dinner Party (1974-94.) The Dinner Party is an installation artwork that is widely regarded as one of the first epic feminist artwork. It represents 1,038 women in history- 39 women are represented by place settings and another 999 names are inscribed in the Heritage Floor on which the table rests. The amount of detail put into this speaks volumes in itself to me. From the placemats to the hand colored photo and text collages used in the heritage panels, you can tell the sentiment in creating this. The Dinner Party serves as a symbolic history of women in civilization. The use of gold luster in inscribing the names on the tiles on the Heritage floor stood out to me almost in a shining light type of way. This is something that I would really enjoy being able to go see someday, I feel that when standing and observing this you could feel a sense of strength, power, and grit in the presence of it and its meaning.
Work Cited
“Components of the Dinner Party.” Brooklyn Museum: Components of the Dinner Party, www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/home.
Editorial, Artsy, and Yelena Keller. “The Overlooked Black Women Who Altered the Course of Feminist Art.” Artsy, 28 Apr. 2017, www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-overlooked-black-women-altered-course-feminist-art.
“Flower Sniffer.” Brooklyn Museum, www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/222925.
“Judy Chicago - Through the Flower.” Turner Carroll Gallery, 18 Jan. 2021, www.turnercarrollgallery.com/product/judy-chicago-through-the-flower-3/.
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