charlotte robinson’s quilt project
Here are some images that I wasn’t able to show in class last Thursday, but they’re all works from Charlotte Robinson’s “Quilt Project” that took place in the 70s and 80s. Please click on the thumbnails for the high-quality scans!
Smaller images of the 20 quilts created:
The two specialized quilts designed by Robinson and executed by all the quilters;
Alice Neel and her original artwork as its source. Quilted with Chris Wolf Edmonds.
Miriam Schapiro’s quilt designed with Marilyn Price
Faith Ringgold’s Echoes of Harlem quilt in collaboration with her mother, Willa Posey
And a quilt done by Charlotte Robinson and Bonnie Persinger
Discussion outline: NMWA
Molly and I had 9 articles focusing on the same issue, so we decided to do one thematic outline together. Here is is!
Images for progress report on seminar paper
Judy Chicago’s “Dinner Party”
Artemesia Gentileschi’s “Susanna and the Elders”
Annotated Bibliography
Annotated Bibliography
Artforum International. “Feminism & Art: 9 Views.” ArtForum 42 (October 2003).
Here ArtForum prompts 9 influential feminists to discuss feminism’s initial impact on art, how it has gone down in history, and how it continues to influence artists. Women such as Linda Nochlin and Peggy Phelan comment on feminism today and what is important today as opposed to the 1970s movement. Though not an excellent source for facts on my paper, this is an excellent read to see what these original feminists think today.
Carson, Fiona. “Feminist Visual Culture.” Women’s Art Journal 24, No. 2 (Autumn 2003- Winter 2004): 39-42.
This article opens up with an excellent definition of the development of visual-culture studies, which is very relevant to contemporary feminism, as it is often associated with low art. Visual culture is the stressing of the social and political functions of art versus its aesthetic qualities. This ties into my larger question of what constitutes art and where it’s placed in terms of high or low culture.
Cole, Julie. “Art, Activism, and Feminisms: Sites of Confrontation and Change.” NWSA Journal 19, No. 1 (Spring 2007): 175-180.
Here, Cole reviews her thoughts on four books that discuss feminists making art in order to intervene or change existing culture. She discusses feminist writing by Peggy Phelan, who focuses on the demand of feminist politics and it’s connection to exploring art. I think this is an interesting source for clarifying certain positions, as Cole seeks to define certain gender-based views in cultural context.
Gouma-Peterson, Thalia and Mathews, Patricia. “The Feminist Critique of Art History.” The Art Bulletin 69, No. 3 (September 1987): 326-357.
This is a very long article which I have yet to finish reading, but it discusses the short generations of art history from a feminist perspective. The article notes many other prominent texts on feminism, relating their message to these discourses. There is also a section on art versus craft, an important correlation in the development of high versus low art.
Groot, Marjan. “Crossing the Borderlines and Moving the Boundaries: ‘High’ Arts and Crafts, Cross-culturalism, Folk Art and Gender.” Journal of Design History 19,
No. 2 (2006): 121-135.
Though the focus of this article is on decorative arts and crafts in the Netherlands, Groot’s discussion makes a point of connection to the interaction between high and low art, and gender ideology in history.
Isaak, Jo Anna. Feminism & Contemporary Art. London: Routledge, 1996.
This book discusses feminist art in a larger social context, by looking at a large range of artists from all different nationalities and time periods. I think this book will be a great source in my research, as there is a variety of artists and themes to discuss.
Lippard, Lucy. “No Regrets.” Art In America. WACK! Lecture text. (Jan.26-27, 2007).
This is the text of Lippard’s keynote talk from the MoMA’s “The Feminist Future” symposium, as well as for the WACK! Exhibition opening. Lippard opens by stating that there is no cohesive feminist movement today, but the culture still exists. I think this article brings up the good points that feminism is in danger of only being recognized as opposition to the male society- I enjoy Lippard’s societal remarks on the development of visual culture, and its relation to high/low art.
Lippard, Lucy. Mixed Blessings: New Art in a Multicultural America. New York:
Pantheon Books, 1990.
I have yet to look through this book, but I’m interested in how Lippard discusses different nationalities and their art relating to their cultures.
Lippard, Lucy. The Pink Glass Swan: Selected Essays on Feminist Art. New York: The New Press, 1995.
This collection of essays by Lippard is a great source to read up on the origins of the feminist art theory and how it begins to affect art today, from its birth 40 years ago. She includes a section on the newer “heresies,” with the likes of the Guerilla Girls and art in multicultural America. I think this collection will be a great help in formulating ideas for this paper.
Murray, Derek Conrad and Soraya. “Uneasy Bedfellows: Canonical Art Theory and the Politics of Identity.” Art Journal 65, No. 1 (Spring 2006): 22.
Having used this article before for a previous paper, I’m excited to use it again, because it’s an excellent source for defining and clarifying the different elements of the development visual culture. It’s mostly a Western, orthodox art history approach v. the newer visual-culture studies. There’s also excellent observations on feminism and its identity-based artists.
Pollock, Griselda. “Visual Culture and Its Discontents; Joining in the Debate.” Journal of Visual Culture 2, No. 2 (August 2003): 253-60.
Here, Griselda Pollock establishes her stance opposite that of the orthodox art historian James Elkins– she sees no need for formalism in approaching theory on art history practice. I’m interested in how she discusses those “exiled” from the canon¬¬– women, gays, minorities, disabled, etc. and their disassociation from ‘high’ culture.
Valdez, Sarah. “Street Culture: Thrashers and Taggers.” Art In America 93, No. 1 (January 2005): 58.
In association with the notion of “low” art, Valdez reviews a new exhibit comprised of street art, remarking that though associtated with low culture, it displays a finely tuned aesthetic. She remarks on the female artists in the exhibition as well.
Paper proposal
Paper Proposal
Feminism and its Relationship with High & Low Art and Culture
Under the rather large umbrella of feminism and feminist art theory today is the notion of identity in art. When, and where, does this construction of identity show? For this paper, I wanted to explore feminist identity in art in terms of high and low art, a dichotomy that is usually synonymous with high and low culture. Are these definitions changing? The distinctions that high and low culture is defined in are often political and sociological. Issues that could be involved are whether or not feminist art is gendered (“good art has no sex”), or whether race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation play a role. Is today’s contemporary art an extension of the 1960/70s movement? If so, then perhaps the art and ideas seen in the feminist movement have been canonized as a basis for feminist art today. I want to examine feminism in terms of how contemporary women artists investigate social/political/cultural events and inspirations in the world around them. Although there is little written on the relationship between high and low art/culture context and feminism, these two can be analyzed together by reading ideology and current theory associated with this cultural dichotomy in feminist art today.
A large question that is brought up when considering the high/low implications of art and culture is “What is art?” Graffiti, urban art, performance, fashion, crafts and pornography– often, these hold a stigma of low culture, because our notion of low art includes things not associated with the avant-garde or Western tradition of paint and sculpture. Art is a part of culture, so associating these media with the concept of a “lower” culture is not a far stretch. The difference between high and low art in terms of feminism could also be examined as to whether content or medium makes the larger difference.
My exploration into this topic stems from a paper I wrote on the progression of identity throughout art history, from the avant-garde to the kitsch in the traditional Western canon. I did some small research on the developing high/low art and culture distinctions, and found it very interesting. There were the proponents of the strict orthodox art history, and those that saw no need for formalism, such as Griselda Pollock. I still have a lot of research to do on this topic, since I need to connect what is written about high and low culture as well as examples of feminist art. Soon, I should have image examples of art where my topic can be applied and explained in context.
The constant defining of high and low art, combined with the ever complicated and demonized topic of feminism (that f-word!) creates an obstacle for understanding much art today. I feel like this paper will be important, in that I can explore the interchange between two complicated approaches to identity and cultural context in the art world.
Hello world!
Welcome to UMW Blogs.org. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!
Powered by FireStats