Art & gender

Art & GenderCHAPTER 4.10

Art & Gender

Sex identifies a person as biologically male or

female.

Gender is the inner identity and is hard to

condense into 2 different categories, typically

under feminine or masculine.

Difficult to determine if gender is biologically or

culturally derived, or possibly even both.

Gendered RolesNatali Tuttle

Gender Roles in Art Through History

Males have been consistently portrayed

as

kings, soldiers, royalty, peasants, hunters, p

riests, artists, musicians, etc.

Never seen doing any feminine activities.

Overwhelmingly extremely masculine, whether in a position of

leadership or strong, dominant male.


Females have mostly been very narrowly

represented in the history of art.

Mainly portrayed as religious

figures, mistresses, mothers or sources of

temptations. (O’Kelly)


Gradually as culture, morals and religions changed, so did the representations and availabilities of women in art. Woman slowly gained more roles in compositions.

Men has remained fairly consistent throughout history.

The base frame of these representations still exist in the modern day art.

Self-Portrait Sideways No. 3, John Coplans

Photography, Gelatin Silver Print

2001

Challenges the traditional

male nudes

Traditional:

tall, sculpture, toned,

strong

Coplans:

hunched, escaping, non-ideal body

He brings a striking reality

of the aging body

Untitled Film Still #35, Cindy Sherman

Black and white photograph

1979

Appears to be a self portrait of

some sort, but the artist

recreated characters from

nonexistent 1950s B-movies

where women were always

stereotypically represented as

housewives, starlet, country girl,

going to the city, etc.

Feminist CritiqueRachel Barraza

Feminist Critique

Women had fewer opportunities than

men to become artists

Language associated with a gender bias

Not many people noticed that women

had been excluded from institutions

The feminist movement of the 1960's and

1970's

The Dinner Party – Judy Chicago

1974-9

Sculpture

Honors women from the past

and present

Triangular dinner table

Place settings

Georgia O'Keeffe

Judith Decapitating Holofernes

Artemisia Gentileschi

1620

Oil on canvas

Reinterpretation of a

Caravaggio

Story from the Bible

Events in Gentileschi's

own Life

Blurring the Lines:

Ambiguous GendersAlisha Moss

Blurring the Lines: Ambiguous Genders

Most cultures have clear roles for males

and females

Not everyone fits into the traditional roles

As public awareness of ambiguous

genders increases our art reflects it.

Blurring the Lines: Ambiguous Genders

Gender roles have become a hot topic

recently but its not exactly a new subject

for art

A twist in traditional gender roles in

Egyptian art.

Today blurred gender can be found nearly everywhere.

Hermaphroditus

Unknown artist, Lady Lever

Art Gallery in England.

The nymph Salmacis loved

Hermaphroditus

We see both male and

female characteristics

Over all feminine look but

awkward male features

Hermaphrodite with a Dog

Diane Arbus, gelatin silver

print - 1968

Is this a male or female?

Feminine costume, make

up and clean shaven right

side

Wristwatch, masculine

tattoo and unshaved left

side

No clear gender identity

“”

Thank you!ART AND GENDER

CHAPTER 4.10

Natali Tuttle

Rachel Barraza

Alisha Moss

Technology

Art & gender