Art by Women of Color
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In studying the art by women of color, it soon becomes apparent that it is impossible to generalize about the use of themes. Often, these artists deal with typical feminist themes, such as institutional sexism or the exploration of womanhood. However, women artists of color also often work with themes relating to their racial or cultural heritages. For example, the Latina artist Yolanda Lopez "questions the idealized stereotypes women are supposed to emulate" by depicting ordinary women in the role of the Virgin Mary, "the most sacred Catholic icon of the Mexican nation" (Goldman, 1989, p. 220). An example of this can be seen in Lopez's Guadalupe Triptych, in which she shows herself, her mother and her grandmother in this role. The African-American artist Betye Saar also seeks to empower women while making statements about racial issues. For example, Saar's The Liberation of Aunt Jemima depicts a stereotypical black housekeeper (or "Mammy") surrounded by images of domestic work (Cliff, 1988, p. 155). At the same time, this construction includes such images as a rifle and a raised fist, both of which were symbols of the black civil rights movement during the 1960's. Another African-American artist, Elizabeth Catlett, also shows concern for the oppression of black women in particular, as opposed to women in general. For example, although her sculpture Homage to My Young Black Sisters is somewhat abstract, it obviously portrays the image of a woman with "one arm raised
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Pindell (1990) has noted, racism continues to be "a potent force in the art world" today (p. 18). Storr (1987) has likewise pointed out that discrimination against women in the art world is very strong, and that discrimination against women artists of color is even stronger. Regarding non-white women artists, Storr has claimed: "Embraced as an abstract category, they are rarely if ever publicly acknowledged in their own right" (p. 17).
In artistic theory, there is currently a trend toward post-colonialism, which is based on the idea of Western artists and thinkers inviting ethnic groups of the world "into their fold" (Minh-ha, 1990, p. 330). Despite this trend, little has been done so far to alleviate racism in the American arts. The Vietnamese feminist Trinh T. Minh-ha (1990) has indicated that the change toward post-colonialism is taking a long time to occur because "decolonization often means dewesternization as taught by the White man" (p. 332). Thus, the white men of the world want to retain control over artistic and cultural institutions because that is the best means for the ascendancy of Western values to likewise be retained. Of course, in the contemporary environment of political correctness, much of this racism
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Approximate Word count = 2170
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)
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