ARTS 1 (Critical Perspectives in the Arts)

University of the Philippines Los Baños

1st Semester (AY 2023-2024)

MODULE 4 : GENDER & SEXUALITY IN ART

➔ Members promoted interest in historical and

CHAPTER OUTLINE contemporary artworks made by women.
➔ Art exhibitions, publications, organizations, and
Feminism Art
History of Feminism educational programs focusing on women’s art and
Emergence of Feminist Art issues have been employed as effective means to
Aesthetic Split obtain the ideological goals of feminist artists.
Authentic Aesthetic Language ➔ Aesthetic Split
Notable Feminist Activists & Artist ● lack of ideological cohesion among the proponents
of the women’s art movement, questioning the
“female aesthetic” and “feminine sensibility.”
FEMINISM ➔ Judy Chicago & Lucy Lippard’s Authentic Aesthetic
Language
➔ belief in social, economic, and political equality of the
● the specific social experience of women which is
sexes. Although largely originating in the West,
independent of “male-defined” mainstream art
feminism is manifested worldwide and is represented by
● Lippard’s view on feminist art :
various institutions committed to activity on behalf of
○ “There is an art unique to women, because
women’s rights and interests.
there are aspects of art by women which are
➔ Main Points of Feminism
inaccessible to men…”
● critique of patriarchal discourse, ideology, and
➔ Pat Minardi
power.
● She insisted that the theory of a female aesthetic
● sexual and domestic violence
is essentially limiting, since it prescribes artistic
● sexism, misogyny, and racism
forms and contents for use by women artists only.
● equality among gender
● “... let’s define women’s art as what women
● femininity as a masquerade to social conformity
(artists) do, not to try to slip and squeeze
● gender identity
ourselves through the loophole of the male art
world.”
HISTORY OF FEMINISM
NOTABLE FEMINIST ACTIVISTS & ARTISTS
1st Wave 19th Century & Early “The Suffrage
20th Century Movement”
● The Second Sex
● “One is not born, but rather
2nd Wave 1960s & 1980s “Dismantling becomes, a woman”
Patriarchy” or the ○ The essence of
resistance to womanhood is not a
patriarchal control & sense of being, but a
violences. sense of becoming.
Simoun de
3rd Wave 1990s to present (1) Transfeminism - Beauvoir
feminism that shed light
with transgenders ● “The woman who still allows
herself to be threatened by the
(2) Ecofeminism - big dick… that’s the woman of
feminism for women yesterday”
that are vegan. ● Freud’s Psychoanalysis

4th Wave “Intersectional

Feminism” Hélèn Cixous

EMERGENCE OF FEMINIST ART

➔ Feminist Art as a movement only came into fruition in
the 1960s and 1970s to raise the status of women in the
art world and society.

Padayon, Iska!
 ● Mother of American
modernism & foremother of the
feminist art movement.
● Her works are references to
the female form.
● Black Iris, 1921, The Met
Museum, New York
Barbara Kruger
Georgia O’Keefe
(1887-1986)
● A Mexican artist celebrated for
her many portraits,
self-portraits, and works
inspired by nature and objects
native to Mexico.
● Broke many social conventions
such as :
○ masculine
Frida Kahlo
appearance
(1907-1954)
○ clothing choices
○ wild hair
○ unplucked eyebrows
● Self-Portrait with Monkey,
1938, Albright-Knox Gallery
Buffalo, NY
Kiki Smith (1954)
● French-American artist working
with large-scale sculpture and
installation art covering
feminist ideas such as :
Louise Joséphine ○ domesticity and the
Bourgeois family
(1911-2010) ○ sexuality and the
body
○ the fallen woman
○ theme of running
away
● Peruvian multimedia artist
● Her conceptual artworks were
ground-breaking for South
American feminist movements.
María Teresa
Burga Ruiz
(1935)
● Known for her collage style
that consists of
black-and-white photographs,
with declarative captions laid
on top.
● “You”, “your”, “I”, “we” , and
“they” seeks to address cultural
(1945)
constructions of power, identity,
and sexuality.
● American artist
● Her work aims to explore
women’s place in the world,
and is an advocate for black
women’s rights and freedom.
Carrie Mae
Weems (1935)
● German-born American artist
best known for her
representations of mortality
and sexuality.
● Devoted much of her work to
exploring the female human
figure and its role within
society.
● Founded in NYC in 1985
● An anonymous group of
feminist, female artists who
use monkey masks to disguise
themselves.
Guerrilla Girls
● Central objective is to devote
themselves to fighting sexism
and racism within the art world.
● English artist who gained her
reputation as a Young British
Artist during the 1990s.
● Uses visual puns and humor
incorporating photography,
Sarah Lucas collage, and found objects to
(1962) create her artworks,
● Her art satirizes gender
stereotypes and deconstructs
femininity and masculinity.
● “Male Gaze”
Padayon, Iska!
 ● An English multidisciplinary
artist who explores notions of
feminism, suxuality, and
identity in her surreal portraits
of fairytale graphics through
collages, paintings, and prints.
Alexandra
Gallagher

Padayon, Iska!