Louise Bourgeois

Louise Bourgeois was born on December 25, 1911 in  Paris, France to Josephine Fauriaux and Louis Bourgeois. Louise was the second of three children, her mother and father ran a antique tapestry gallery. Louise father was soon drafted in the army during World War I, while er mother filled her children minds with anxiety and fear, but this is where she began her first works of art  creating and drawing  missing pieces of tapestry for her parents gallery and restoration business.These personal problems can be seen in her work where  " her father's mistress residing with the Bourgeois family, would come to inform Bourgeois' artwork, which is highly diaristic. Many of her works focus on sexual desire and confusion, and she has said that many of them stem from early childhood narratives (The Art Story). 

As a child Louise did not choose to become an artist where her education varied greatly studying in many schools .In1938, Bourgeois opened a print shop next to her parents' business, where she met Robert Goldwater an art historian. Robert soon became Bourgeois's husband, causing her to move to New York with him. At this time Bourgeois was an engraver and painter, but in the 1940's moved toward sculpting. Where Goldwater introduced her to many artists such as, "such as Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, and Louise Nevelson, as well as critics and art dealers like Clement Greenberg and Peggy Guggenheim ( The Art Story)

During the 60's she began to use  and experiment with latex, fiber glass, plaster and rubber. With this she created abstract and organic pieces  These organic pieces were "so sexually referential that critics and fans imbued her work with deep psychological import and linked Bourgeois' work to Surrealism" (The Art Story).

While during the 70's Bourgeois was a political and socialist feminist creating sexually explicit work which incorporated the female body. As with her Fillettes series which embodied all of the aspects from the latter. Although she was an artists for many years prior to this piece , it was at this point where she " became a successful artist. Bourgeois has had major exhibitions and retrospectives in major museums such as the Tate Modern, London, Centre Pompidou, Paris, Museum of Modern Art, New York" ( L & M Arts)

 Louise Bourgeois went through Surrealism and Abstract expressionism in New York and France. her Art work helped create a feminist movement continuing to influence new artists  till this day. Louise Bourgeois passed away at the age of 98 on May 31, 2010 in Manhattan

                                                         Works Cited

The Art Story" Louise Bourgeois" http://www.theartstory.org/artist-bourgeois-louise.htm

Dec.22.2012

L & M Arts Louise Bourgeois  http://www.lmgallery.com/artists/louise-bourgeois/

Dec.22.2012

Louise Bourgeois http://metroartwork.com/popup_all-artists_info.php?manufacturers_id=224

Dec.22.2012

Post 3: Lois Mailou Jones

Who is Lois Jones you might ask, is she just another painter? Is she just another all around awesome artist whose life reflects triumph over adversity? I would say no because she is much more than that. She was an educator among her many talents. She graduated from Boston’s very own School of the Museum of Fine Arts. She has taught at Palmer Memorial Institute and was then later in life pursued to join the art department at Howard University located in Washington, D.C.

While Jones was a successful and influential artist of her time she did overcome many things that African Americans were facing at the time. This fact alone is impressive but more so for her being a woman and pursuing the arts. Despite these challenges, “from 1930-77 Jones trained several generations of African American artist, including David Driskell, Alma Thomas, Elizabeth Catlett, and Sylvia Snowden” ("National”).

Lois Mailou Jones was not just a painter but a textile designer, in her earlier years. Her travels to Paris and Haiti served as a source of inspiration to her. She was decorated by the Haitian government and in her painting “Water Carriers, Haiti 1985” her love of her husband's homeland is obvious. Many of her other paintings were influenced by this same love and aided in her success as an artist. She immortalized aspects of Haitian culture and history in her works forever marking her contribution in the arts.

 

Water Carriers, Haiti 1985

As a painter Jones work reflected many changes, not only in her life but her exposure to styles and different places. Her paintings slowly moved from watercolor sketches and landscapes, influenced by her trips to France, to brighter colored and bolder paintings. Her work also began to reflect more of her own style than previous paintings as she began expressing herself. The last transition her work saw was to an abstract way of painting, showcasing the African influences she had been exposed to.

Through all of her journeys, travels and tribulations Lois Mailou Jones managed to separate herself from the crowd and make her own spot in history. Accompanying this success she has helped as pave the way for other aspiring female artists. Showing not only her craft as a painter skilled in one area but a true artist with abilities honed in different techniques.




"National Museum of Women in the Arts." Lois Mailou Jones. National Museum of Woman in the Arts, n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2012.

"Lois Mailou Jones (American Painter and Educator)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2012.

"Lois M. Jones's Art Reflects African Traditions, Many Styles." The Black Box. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2012.

Post 4

The Artist that I am mainly looking into, their artworks I chose are pertaining to race, ethnicity and body image.

Lily Martin Spencer- "Height of Fashion":

Lily Spencer painting, the "Height of Fashion" is shown at the right. The painting shows a young African American girl with a fake monocle, pet dog and her pinky finger extended which shows her bring fashionable.The artist, Lily Spencer poked fun at the child's mannerisms associated with high society. Lilly Spencer was one of the most famous artist during this time during her time. The humor she used in her works with the stories she told  through her paintings are what made her so popular. 



Barbara Kruger- "Your Body is a Battleground":

I really like this photo because it emphasizes the way women try every different

way to make themselves beautiful. The picture also reminds me of the evil queen from Snow White, and how she tired to be the fairest of them all. I like how she used the black and white images and color blocking the words. It really makes everything stick out. The deeper message behind this is an inspiration.








Frida Kahlo- " The Two Fridas"

Frida Kahlo was of the most interesting artists we learned about in class. I loved all the issues and turmoils she faced throughout life, however she came out on top through it all. She was an artist that was famous in her time and that is a spectacular feet. This painting shows how Frida was two people but their hearts were connected as one. The Frida in the white dress represents the Western influence on Mexico, while the blue dress represents her Mexican heritage and how she would prefer to dress.

Augusta Savage- "The Harp"
Augusta Savage was a very amazing sculpture due to her abilities in the Harlem Renaissance. "The Harp" is a  sculpture depicted of a group of twelve stylized black singers in graduated heights that symbolized the strings of the harp. "The sounding board was formed by the hand and arm of God, and a kneeling man holding music represented the foot pedal" (1939). This sculpture was beautiful and it took so much time to be created...sadly it was demolished after the fair in was presented in.







Eva Hesse- "Ringaround Arosie"
 The picture to the right is called, "Ringaround Arosie" it was done by the well-known Eva Hesse. she was the woman artist to be taken as seriously as the boys. In her artwork she had references sexuality, and humor. In this sculpture she references boobs/ breasts and how they have toe ability to be different sizes. Her work was very interesting to be because it broke all of the rules pertaining to old views of sculpting. 

Works Cited

"1939New York World's Fair." The Harp by Augusta Savage. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2012.

"Home - Barbara Kruger - Photograph Collage, Advertising, Slogans, Art." Home - Barbara Kruger - Photograph Collage, Advertising, Slogans, Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2012.

"Lilly Martin Spencer." Lilly Martin Spencer. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2012.

PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2012.

Study Guide Quiz 2

Part One - 10 Identifications (7 points each) Artist, Title, Year
Part Two - 2 Identification/Short Essays (15 points each) 2+ paragraphs
BONUS - 5 points each
Modernism, Abstraction and the new woman
Gabriele Munter, Portrait of Marianne Werefkin, 1909
Gabriele Munter, Boating, 1910
Vanessa Bell, The Tub, 1917
Sonia Delaunay, Coverture, 1911
Sonia Delaunay, Simultaneous Contrasts, 1912
Hannah Höch, DADA-Dance, 1919-21
Hannah Höch, The Kitchen Knife, 1919
Hannah Hoch, Indian Dancer, 1930
Käthe Kollwitz, Memorial For Karl Liebknecht, 1919
Käthe Kollwitz, Self Portrait Facing Right, 1938

The Female Body
Suzanne Valadon, Grandmother and Young Girl Stepping into the Bath, c.1908
Suzanne Valadon, The Blue Room, 1923
Frida Kahlo, The Broken Column, 1944
Frida Kahlo, Self Portrait with Monkey, 1940
Frida Kahlo, The Two Fridas, 1939
Frida Kahlo, The Flying Bed, 1932
Käthe Kollwitz, "Attack"The Weaver's Revolt, 1895
Camille Claudel, La Valse, 1895
Romaine Brooks, White Azaleas or Black Net, 1910
Romaine Brooks, Self Portrait, 1923
Georgia O'Keefe, Black Hollyhock, Blue Larkspur, 1930
Georgia O'Keefe, Yellow Calla, 1930
Pan Yuliang, Nude Study, 1947
Pan Yuliang, Self Portrait, 1945
Ana Mendieta, Untiltled (Silueta Series), 1978


Gender, Race and Modernism
Lee Krasner, Noon, 1947
Lee Krasner, Cat Image, 1957
Helen Frankenthaler, Mountains and Sea, 1952
Louise Bourgeois, Fillette, 1968
Louise Bourgeois, Arch of Hysteria, 1993
Eva Hesse, Hang Up, 1966
Eva Hesse, Repetition 19 III, 1968
Faith Ringgold, Die, 1967
Faith Ringgold, The Wedding: Lover's Quilt No.1, 1986
Betty Saar, The Liberation of Aunt Jemima, 1972
Augusta Savage,Lift Every Voice and Sing, 1939
Alma Thomas, Elysian Field, 1973
Thelma Johnson Streat, Rabbit Man, 1941

Feminist Art
Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party, 1974-79
Judy Chicago, "Virginia Woolf", The Resurrection Triptych, 1973
Nancy Spero, Codex Artaud, 1970-71
Miriam Shapiro, Anatomy of a Kimono, 1976
Joyce Kozloff, Hidden Chambers, 1975
Las Muheres Muralistas, mural, 1974

New Directions: Postmodernism, Performance, Place
Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Your Gaze Hits the Side of My Face) 1981
Jenny Holzer, Selection of Truisms, 1982
Cindy Sherman, Untitled, 1979
Sherrie Levine, After Walker Evans, 1936
Adrian Piper, Vanilla Nightmares No.2, 1986
Adrian Piper, Cornered, 1988
Yoko Ono, Cut Piece, 1964
Marina Abromovic, The Inner Sky for Departure, 1991
Marina Abromovic, Imponderabilia, 1977
Maria Abromovic, The Artist is Present, 2010
Rachel Whiteread, House, 1993
Rachel Whiteread, Monument, 2001
Maya Lin, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 1975
Sophie Calle, Ghosts, 1991
Doris Salcedo, Untitled, 1990
Shirin Neshat, Turbulent, 1998
Shirin Neshat, The Last Word, 2003
Ghada Amer, Eight Women in Black and White, 2004
Marlene Dumas, Dead Girl, 2002

Black Women in Films: Hollywood !

                                                      Art & Women Project!
                         Black Women in Films by Direne Price
                              
      
                                                Hollywood




Well. let me begin by saying..." Black Women are the most beautiful, angry, mean, lovely, difficult, loving, honest, sexy, sneakiest, nosiest, funniest, diverse, complex creatures on the planet!" Oh! did I mention these are just some of the adjectives that are used to describe Black Women in the World!!! Yet, why is it so hard for us to get roles in Hollywood that speak to our complexed, but enriched lives and culture?


So many bleak opportunities offered to Black Women in Hollywood for movie or television roles, but Why are there few films where the Black actresses are not sitting down at the table eating, but are always the ones who are serving the dinner???


    Oh! I forgot one adjective; I'm seeing R.E.D. (Real EVIL Diva) 
             a Direnism!

Angry? yes!  Here's a movie title for you! Can you say....Diary of a Mad Black Woman???????????
               A Tyler Perry Joint!     creator,  director, producer, writer... and employs black actresses!! Who else is going to???


There are stories told by Black Women in films that impact audiences across all racial color lines, but only get little recognition. This is prevalent in Music, Fashion and The Arts(painting and sculpture) World too!

 Movie Films are considered Art because they are filled with still and moving images! 

After 100 years of racial inequality, stereotypes and marginalized roles, Hollywood is not ready yet!?



Stereotypes of Black Women in Early Film and Television

                                                                                
                                        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWQNd49C5eE




           "SEE , I TOLD YOU.... black women have an attitude."
                                                            
                                                       T.V. Show  " Family Guy"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOB38zJu66o

  "Do you mean to tell me that I cook, clean and even breastfeed some of  your children, but I can't take a vacation boss 'em????
                                                                  yess 'am!!!!!

Film "Gone With The Wind"

 Hattie Mcdaniels

First Black Oscar Winner!

We had to wait 50 years later for the last woman; remember??

  

Listen!" I did not give up my 40 acres and a mule so I can be pushed to the back of the bus again, yah hear?" You tella girl!

I mean yes ma'am!!!

Film "The Help"

Viola Davis

"Even in our most trying times, we still manage to look beautiful and hold it togetha. At least it seems that way on the surface!"

Black Women usually star in films only after they have made it in the music industry. Diana Ross is a perfect example!!!

                                          Film " Lady Sings the Blues" Playing Billy Holiday

                                                                     Diana Ross

                       "Being oppressed means the absences of Choices"
                                                                           by bell hooks


                            "Thinking critically is at the heart of anybody transforming their life"
                                            bell hooks  


bell hooks, author, intellectual and scholar says  in her Cultural Criticism Video that the color coding of black female bodies has re-inscribed what the female body is as they are used in sexist, pornograpic imagery for films and music videos.   "Any kind of black female body comes into greater representation solely along the sexual term that we have been historically represented within the mass media."(hooks)

 She also suggests that the images of prostitutes and slutty women willing to do anything have been a function of racist and sexist stereotypes in get reproduced in rap music and in films. Sadly, this color cast system is being affirmed in America and the Media today. Dark-skinned women are less desirable by Hollywood and even in television, rap, or music videos. "We  didn't change it, we embraced this, now we have to live out the consequences of it!" (hooks   )








http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xtoanes_L_g&feature=youtu.be




HE  told me that he could make me a star!!!!! But... He never said how?? I'm available for Bar Mitzvahs and Bachelor parties too!

Google Images: Video Vixens

"Hey , I Stayed in this position for hours as an extra in a rap video and all I got was one hundred dollars, an order of chicken wings and this fake *** chain???

"No longer will I be caught up in a profession that tells the man to "just leave the money on the dresser sweetie!"  Or a man asks me how much?

The Message:

The voices of Black women in supporting and starring roles as smart, educated and srong have to be heard throughout Hollywood in order to change and redirect the perception of what it means to be a Black Woman, thus having more positive roles sent their way.

Credit

Me!! see reference page!

http://artandwomenfa2012.blogspot.com/2012/12/black-women-in-films-in-hollywood.html 

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9013779909049659659#editor/target=post;postID=3497812677304984642

Semester Project: Illustration of The Great Female Artist's.

I decided to create an illustration of the most amazing female artist's of all time. After being in the class I learned something that I never learned in High School, and that was females were great artist's too. I plan to frame the illustration and place it on my wall. When people ask me who are they? and who did it? I can reply that it is my modern day homage to the women that the history books forgot. Finding information about these great women is much harder than finding information about the male artist's like Picasso, and Di vinci.  Having these women on my wall will not let me forget and will educate others as to who these women are without having to search too hard among the many male artist's. I decided to choose female artist's from every race to show people that art can not be defined by race, culture or gender. Art is not male or female, black or white, Asian or Latin. Art is universal but for some reason we have only been taught about the contributions that white males have made to the art world. My illustration is nothing more than my way of honoring these great women for their contributions to the art world.

Can you name 5 female artists?http://nolafemmes.com/2010/03/05/can-you-name-5-female-artists/

Information about female artists.

http://www.ranker.com/list/famous-female-painters/reference

Info on Harriet Powers.
http://www.historyofquilts.com/hpowers.html

Info on Frida Khalo.
http://www.frida-kahlo-foundation.org/

Info on Pan Yuilang.
http://www.remediosvaro.biz/pan_yuliang.html

Info on Georgia O'keeffe
http://www.georgia-okeeffe.com/

Info on Artemisia Gentileschi
http://www.artemisia-gentileschi.com/index.shtml

Info on Alma Thomas
http://americanart.si.edu/education/insights/cappy/11athomasbio.html

Info on Jan Johannes Vermeer.
http://www.johannesvermeer.org/

Link to my Illustration.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90787148@N07/8245426429/

Ive thought about this, having heard a few of your presentations, and what you hope to achieve with them. I will not claim to start a group or raise global awareness. Those of you who know me better, know im arrogant, but not enough to say that i can affect the career and the standing of somebody with the global recognition of Didi Surdu-Stanescu.

So the question is, who am i targeting this towards. And thats you, the class. Luckily the class presentation will give me your ears as a captive audience, since i doubt many of you will get to read any of the posts here.

Ive been giving this a great deal of thought, and i ask myself how many of you can honestly say you like some of the more modern pieces. Forget about them being man or woman, black or white. The piece of art itself.

Be it a patterned tapestry, or painting of can of soup, would you hang that up in your house and like it? Well, maybe the tapestry might be nice. But then again, i have license plates on my walls, and that isnt art. As beauty, art is in the eye of the beholder, so i cant say what you might like, based on what i like, so it is why im hoping that some will look into Didi's work.

And assuming you havent seen any of it before, you will be able to see for yourself without being told to like or dislike it.  You wont have to worry if you say something like "I dont like the Monalisa" because everyone should see the artistry in that, right?

But going back to Didi. Besides the reason of me knowing her since i was a kid, there is something else that i feel is relevant. In todays day and age, technology has pushed its way in almost all aspects of live, save for a few of us stubborn backwards types.

So does modern art have to include technology? Must it be "great social import"? Some art does (although personally i still cant see all social and polical "art" as art)

The answer isnt a clear one, but one to make you think and decide for yourself. If you like art that is cans of soup, or pictures of tables, thats great, but im sure many of you are left scratching your head not getting it.

Didi's work is more traditional, since its sculpture, something we all know as being an art, and not having to be told its art (another aside, how many times have you seen something and wondered if it was art, but instead turned out to be junk mangeled together?). Art should be esthetic, at least the way i see it. Art should inspire all sorts of emotions, thoughts. It shouldnt guide me too much into thinking this or that, but it should make itself known as art.


So, if one of you should decide to click the link, and maybe google search on your own, or read more, and decide that you like what you see, then im happy. Didi can fill her own galeries without my help. She has done it since before i was born, but if somebody in this class should decide to show interest, then i would consider this assignment a success.

https://skydrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=68D10297A0D82D3D!236&app=Word

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/04/16/elena-surdu-stanescu-sculpture-deeper-face-value.html
(also an article if any of the articles above dont translate well)

ART, GENDER AND FEMINISM: NEGLECTION AND MISREPRESENTATION OF WOMEN FROM TWO WORLDS

ART, GENDER, AND FEMINISM: NEGLECTION AND MISREPRESENTATION OF WOMEN FROM TWO WORLDS

There was one case where a young girl was extremely bright and the allegation was that she had used witchcraft to take the intelligence of her classmates. So if you are a woman who is extremely bright, very astute at business, is able to amass wealth, a woman who is challenging and not docile, any of these can lead to allegations of witchcraft.  - Ajoa Kwarteng Kluvitse,The country director, Action aid (Ghana).
This does not apply to boys!

There has been a close analysis of gender, race and feminism since the beginning of time, to bring to bear the role of arts in addressing issues of great concern and this analysis includes the creation of images or objects in fields including painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, and other visual media. Most of these works vividly address discrimination and other issues in history, culture, and society and that means they also serve as a platform for confronting problems that continue to face us today. This among others is what inspired me to put this piece together .In reference, Chadwick states that “our language and expectations about art have tended to rank that produced by women as below that produced by men in “quality”, resulting in lesser monetary value. This has profoundly influenced our knowledge and understanding of the contributions made by women to painting and sculpture”  (17). Although women have been influential in art as well as other areas, society consistently tries to limit how far women can go and all that forms the focus of this piece.            .

So how does art address witchcraft? To answer that question, I had to turn to history and I found this great artist:

Hans Baldung Grien (1484 – 1545)

Self portrait

He is considered the most gifted artist of Albrecht Dürer who was also a German painter, printmaker, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg. Durer’s prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since. So Baldung brings to this project rich and great works. Also a German artist, Baldung developed a distinctive style, full of color, expression and imagination. His talents are varied, and he produced a great and extensive variety of work from portraits, woodcuts, altarpieces, drawing, tapestries, allegories and mythologies.

Hans Baldung Grien (1484-1545)

                       "The witches sabbath 1510"                          

“An Accused witch”

courtesy:http://www.workplacegiving.co.uk/news-and-press-archive/prisoners-of-prejudice-women-accused-of-witchcraft-condemned-to-ghana%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98witch-camps%E2%80%99/

"Witches camp", Northern Ghana

courtesy:actionaid.org

"Accused Witch"

courtesy:catholic.org/photos/photo.php

Hans Baldung Grien (c. 1484 – 1545

"Witches camp", northern Ghana

courtesy: ghananation.org

Hans Baldung

Condemned female witches are burned at the stake (14C).

.

"Accused witch", yadu masam, northern Ghana.

Courtesy: http://www.zoeyoung.net/node/233

I don’t want to be here. Somebody decided I was a witch. My heart is dead – what I used to know, I don’t know any more…" Yadu Masam - Ngani ‘Witches’ Camp’, Ghana, 2010

When misfortune hits a village, there is a tendency in some countries to suspect a "witch" of casting a spell. In Ghana, outspoken or eccentric women may also be accused of witchcraft - and forced to live out their days together in witch camps. Today they are still run by local chiefs, and accommodate up to 1,000 women in spartan huts with no social amenities. Women are expected to be submissive so once you start to be outspoken in your views or even successful in your trade, people assume you must be possessed. A closer look finds no difference at how society today places women. On one side of the world is how art presents reality to us with refence to the great artists,Hans Baldung Grien, and the same is the case in the other part of the world where we look at feminism with reference to one of the most outstanding conceptual artists, Barbara Kruger. I begin with a quote from Guerilla Girls.

“Women’s brains may not be capable of much but watch out for their bodies” (Guerilla Girls 16).

FEMINISM 

Kruger’s work often questions and critiques the forces that try to make women into objects, disallowing them subjectivity. Well versed in post-structuralism, Kruger blends text with image to deconstruct the tenets of traditional art. Barbara Kruger explores feminist theory through artistic expression.  Her work “Your gaze hits the side of my face” is one example of this. This image shows a photo of a classical female statue, the symbol of “beauty” in traditional art history, but undermines this interpretation by pointing out that the male gaze at the female object is an aggressive act that silences women from taking part in the discourse. Kruger's emphasis on breaking down socially constructed notions like "art" and "beauty" makes her works stand out. Her works bring to us the other side of the media and exposes how Americans are being sold the concept that women and girls’ value lies in their youth, beauty and sexuality. There is more to the expression of women as objects of beauty in the media than expected. Women are portrayed in ways that perpetuate the stereotypes and biases that are held against them.

Barbara Kruger



(Your Gaze Hits the Side of My Face) by Barbara Kruger, 1981

Suggesting themes of struggle, power, and control, Kruger’s image addresses complicated issues such as desire, sexism, consumerism and discrimination and encourages the viewer to question their own perceptions of these taboo topics. A large scale work by Barbara Kruger combines her signature bold text and graphics. She explores feminist theory through artistic expression as well as the patriarchy, consumerism and the male gaze.

Barbara Kruger

YOUR BODY IS A BATTLEGROUND 1989

Hans Baldung (c. 1484 – 1545)

“The three ages of the Woman and Death” 1509-10

Barbara Kruger

YOU ARE NOT YOURSELF (1982)

Kruger’s “You Are Not Yourself”, uses this humorous technique to underscore a feminist point of view. The woman’s face looks stressed and upset. She’s wearing make-up and has her nails painted, like a lady should. The words ‘you are not yourself’ are disjointedly laid over a photograph of a distressed woman looking into a shattered mirror. This montage is immediately ironic because you are looking into a mirror, the object our culture relies on to reflect reality, but it is cracked and without its reassurance you are not yourself. Somehow without the recognition of the mirror, the axis of our culture, your own existence is in question. This begs the question why are you not yourself? Continuing with the theme of feminist art, Kruger is perhaps indicating that you are not yourself because our culture, ruled by the mirror and the media, mandates that you be one thing that you are not or possibly may never be. Feminism is at play here. The woman looking into the shattered mirror with a distressed face shows that she isn’t as confident as she should be. She is wearing makeup, trying to make herself up. She isn’t herself because she feels like she needs to dress and look a certain way, which isn’t her. Kruger is commenting on the unreality of the ideal female image portrayed by the media today which forms part of this project and until the world wakes up to the need for equality, I will work and continue to develop this idea through art to tell the story to the world.
For detailed article/project, click on this link

Credit:

Chadwick, Whitney, Women, Art, and Society. New York: Thames & Hudson Ltd, London, 2007. Print

The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. New York: Penguin, 1998. Print.

Kruger, Barbara, profile/biography

http://www.barbarakruger.com/biography.shtml

Hoak, Dale,History Today Volume: 31 Issue: 2 1981, Witch-Hunting and Women in the Art of the Renaissance

 http://www.historytoday.com/dale-hoak/witch-hunting-and-women-art-renaissance

Jones, Adam ,The European Witch-Hunts, c. 1450-1750 and Witch-Hunts Today http://www.gendercide.org/case_witchhunts.html

Ziem Joseph, Disbandment of Witches’ Camps should not Endanger Lives of the Victims, January 31, 2012

http://rumnet.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/disbandment-of-witches-camps-should-not-endanger-lives-of-the-victims/

Whitaker, Kati, Ghana witch camps: Widows' lives in exile, Kukuo, northern Ghana, 31 August 2012

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19437130

Kruger, Barbara, The Art History Archive - Feminist Art

http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/feminist/Barbara-Kruger.html

YOUNG, ZOE, Evans Saskia  and Cuadrado, Andrea Bringing Balance: Bridging Worlds, 'What I Used To Know.. The Road To Ghana's 'Witches' Camps', March 2011

http://www.zoeyoung.net/node/233

Baldung Grien, Hans (c. 1484 – 1545) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 26 November 2012.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Baldung#Early_life