The two artists that had the largest impact on me in the recent online art class by Prof. Anna Divinsky are Cindy Sherman and Ana Mendieta. I think I find each of these artists compelling because they each use themselves and modifications of their images in their art. Many of both artists combine performance art, costume, make-up, photography, and environmental elements in their art. Really, one needs to look at a survey of both of these artists’ work to get a sense of their themes and development within a context. But I decided to compare one of each of these artists pieces for this particular critique. One piece of art is Cindy Sherman’s “Untitled #469, 2008.” The other pice of art that I will be comparing and contrasting with Sherman’s previously mention work, is from Ana Mendieta’s “Tree of Life” series. The URL for the above Sherman image is readily available from the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) at: moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2012/cindysherman/gallery/5/#/2/untitled-469-2008. The image of “Tree of Life” is available at genderacrossborders/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/mendieta4.jpg. I have also provided screen captures of these works in case the links do not work. In Sherman’s piece, a woman is garbed in an elegant attire, pearls, and superimposed within a open field within a forest. It is almost as if the image of the woman is like that of a deity or perhaps a tree herself. She is, however, no spring chicken. She is not an anorexic twig either. The portrait, instead, is of a woman who is comfortable aging, like a maturing tree. The expression on her face is that of a self-assured stare. She looks as though she is comfortable with who and where she is. She has usurped the traditional male gaze that is so common place in the art-world, and in society more generally, and makes the viewer of the photograph uncomfortable. The surrounding forest and the woman herself are lush and sturdy. This photograph seems to be a big departure from Sherman’s “Clown” series of “Stereotypical Housewife” series where Sherman seems to question the use of make-up or a woman’s expected place in society. Instead, the photograph is more timeless in its embrace of historical luxury and more lasting beauty that are (hopefully) the forests. “Tree of Life” is more primal in that a woman is covered with mud and camouflaged within a tree. She resembles the bark of the tree which she poses in front of in a worshiping or offertory, almost performing some ritual in which she has made herself an gift to nature. There is consequently something very visceral and haunting about this piece. Something compelling. It is as if the the viewer does not know whether to join in the ritual or rescue the woman choosing to perform it. There is also a racial or ethnic component to Mendieta’s “Tree of Life.” Mendieta has been know to be inspired by Afro-Cuban practices in her work in order to relate to her exploration of cultural issues in her works as well. Both of these women, in my opinion, are incredible and courageous people and artists. They both challenge the idea of a woman to simply be an object of desire and place it within a somewhat environmental context in these works. Much of their other work does they same. I implore you to Google image search more works of both Cindy Sherman and Ana Mendieta when you get chance. They are both important contemporary American artists.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 04:52:18 +0000
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