“Subject Positions in Art”
Join us for the
CSUSB Art History, Undergraduate Conference
Tuesday, June 2 and Thursday, June 4 ~ 2:00-3:30 CSUSB, VAC Room 221
Contact: Jane Chin Davidson jchindavidson@csusb.edu ~ https://csusbart.wordpress.com/
What is a “subject position” and how does it relate to art? Should the subject position be distinguished by the powerful role of the artist and her/his command of the subject? Or is the position of the viewer the most important since meaning is derived from the viewing engagement with the work of art? The two ends of the dynamic will be explored through focusing on subjects, artists and artworks. Whether artistic making or viewing engagement, the papers in this conference investigate these positions of power in the development of the discourses that are relevant to the structures of meaning in art.
April Baca - Beyond the Blinds: Power and subversion
Throughout the discourse of metaphysics, the examination of power structures, relationships, and origin has often been a source for various debates. Utilizing Francis Bacon’s critical re-appropriation of Diego Velázquez’s Portrait of Innocent X, 1650, Study after Velázquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X, 1953 as key support, this paper will examine the power structures and subversions that Bacon initiates through painting, by which he reveals a connection within contemporary social structures and conceptual systems. Succeeding in gaining an understanding of the popes constructed by Velázquez and Bacon, a study of the power of the Subject distilled from past and present will be conducted from the vantage point of deconstruction and through the support of genealogy. Investigations of the technology of paint, seen here as a reconfiguration of the medium’s ability to create what is interpreted, will serve as a formal study to balance the theoretical framework that outlines the Subject. The technology of paint will analyze not only what is perceivable, but what is confined within the technique and technological mechanics of the paint itself. In addition, structural subversions of power will be explored in relation to Bacon’s theological transgressions. The removal and dissection of the body of power will then be re-appropriated to account for the flux of fetishized “truth”, or, the instability of interpreted meaning. The analysis of this truth and meaning specific to the hierarchy of knowledge and structures of language will be scrutinized through the appropriation, critique and dissemination of the theological vernacular reflected within Bacon’s work.
Julio Bernardo – Paloma Negra
Created by Jose Rodolfo Loaiza Ontiveros, Paloma Negra (2014), roughly translated as “black dove,” is a satirical work of pop art that provides a modern twist on the Disney fairytales that we have come to know and love. We have all been touched by the Disney imagination in at least one point in our lives, and we have put ourselves in their shoes with the hopes and dreams that our lives would end up like a fairytale. In this satirical painting, the famous Disney princesses Snow White, Belle, and Cinderella are sitting around a table drinking wine. With cigarettes in an ash tray, the princesses look like they are defeated by the same thing that they believed would save them. Frida Kahlo appears to be showing them how to cope with their broken hearts as if she can relate through her own suffering. All of her little companions are distraught by what they are seeing: Disney princesses acting abnormal since what we are used to is seeing them be portrayed and shown to be happy with their prince, living happily forever after. All this is happening in front of a painting of El Corazon with an arrow piercing it. This painting is actually referring to a playing card from a famous Mexican game called Loteria, representing how the ladies have had their own hearts pierced. All of these main points play a primary role in making this painting unique in its own way. Some people believe satire to be the lowest form of art for simply copying someone else’s idea, but they fail to view what the painting truly conveys.
Lindsey Cherek – Judy Chicago
Judy Chicago is influential in Feminist Art and she has an understanding of--and experience with--how problematic the Studio Art programs within American universities are in regards to sexist, racist, classist, homophobic, and transphobic issues. These issues are carried out in to today’s art canon. From underrepresentation in major museums, to simple restrictions and expectations about how women should lead their lives, there is no way to avoid sexism in art. The valuation of art made by between men and women is vastly different—auctions promoting paintings created by men sell at twice the price of paintings created by women artists. Establishing gender equality in museums should be as easy as developing collections through equal gender representation. Chicago contributed to this idea through her own artwork and lifestyle, but there are many ways in which she fell short regarding gender equality. Chicago drew attention to the inequality between men and women; and although this continues to be progressive and necessary, there is rarely acknowledgement of people who do not identify with the male/female binary. It is almost unheard of for people who are genderqueer or gender-nonconforming to have any sort of representation in any institution of our society. We can still look to Chicago’s approach for inspiration on how to make a change in the art world, but we cannot stop there. The art canon is a reflection of the ideals and morals of our society, of our world, and it should be inclusive of all human experience. It is important to accept and embrace that there are more than two genders, just as there are more than two sexualities. This paper will explore how this understanding will change the way in which all art is viewed.
Jamie Zeffery – The Reconciliation of Fatness and Beauty in Art
When one thinks of “beauty,” an over-weight woman is almost never the image that pops into one’s head. My essay seeks to explore why overweight women are not considered and if this problem is changing. Beauty has held a position of power and privilege throughout history and those who fit the standards seem to have more value. These standards of beauty are determined by culture and influenced by trends throughout history, which include the specific exclusion of fatness as ugliness. The documentary photography of Substantia Jones depicts nude plus-size women in a state of happiness as the artist seeks to emphasize body positivity in a fat-phobic society. I will delve into the history of fatness in both society and art, and seek to define ugliness in order to show how the two have come to be considered interchangeable. I will also explore what is traditionally thought to be beautiful which until recently, almost never includes corpulence. In redefining fat as beautiful, questions, considerations and implications emerge, such as the question of the Male Gaze and how it views an undesirable body. Like it would with a skinner counter-part, the male gaze often results in the fetishization of the fat female body rather than produce mere visual pleasure. On the other side of this is the Female Gaze, which for me comes from within - from how we view ourselves as well as other women. The results are often confusing yet inevitably critical. Women today are the number one critics of fat, mainly due to the fear of their value as women. The notion of a diminishing “body currency” is manifested in the marginalization and dehumanization of fat women. However, the new reconciliation of fat and beauty in art and society indicates the fledgling stages of the subversion of traditional views of beauty and ugliness. We can see such ramifications in examples including plus-size model Tess Holliday’s work as a size 22 woman and Lucian Freud’s painting titled Benefits Supervisor Resting (1922-2011) which was recently auctioned off recently at Christies for over $50 million dollars.
Tim Hicks – Untitled (Free) by Rirkrit Tiravanija
My essay addresses the theme of relational aesthetics and community. In Rirkrit Tiravanija’s piece Untitled (Free) 1992, these themes are conveyed and contextualized by the location of the artwork. I am addressing Nicolas Bourriaud’s definition of “relational aesthetics,” in which case, I disagree with his non-political views of art, especially since performance art is still political. However, I do agree with his ideas of aesthetics in considering the work of Tiravanija. The political in this work can be viewed by the fact that Untitled (Free) 1992 showcases a homeless- like social class. As a work of performance and installation, the exhibition space is covered in wood and throughout the space there are also wooden frames that appear to mimic walls. This wooden structure is the groundwork and a type of neutral zone for the participants to fully engage. The subject is strongly political due to the fact that people of higher social standing were the ones viewing the 1992 show and the performance placed them in this very low social scenario. This subject matter is often seen as something echoed from the past - in Manet’s subjects, for instance. Tiravanija’s work is similar but shows a strong difference in that it is about the viewers and their own “live” personal interactions as well as interactions with each other. In the performance of Untitled (Free), food is handed to the viewers when they first walk in. One might see the show as about providing this simple meal when in fact, it is about much more. The bowl of rice and Thai curry is a catalyst for the main purpose of the work: human interaction which is the part that follows Bourriaud’s theory. Tiravanija uses his work as a minimalist aesthetic extension to create a performative engagement between the artist and the viewer, which I argue is in equal parts to aesthetics and politics.
Cassandra Jones – Le Pont Neuf Wrapped by Christo and Jeanne Claude
As one of the most exciting art movements of our time, environmental art celebrates our connection to the natural world through beauty, science, and metaphor. The Le Pont Neuf wrapped (1985) by Christo and Jeanne Claude expresses those exact points of Environmental art that followed the engagements of performance art. These artists interpose within a chosen environment, and in doing so, cause us to perceive that environment in a new way. Wrapping the Pont-Neuf continued this tradition of successive transfiguration through a new sculptural dimension which transformed it into a work of art. The visual effect of Le Pont Neuf Wrapped intervened into the natural state of the bridge. The wrapping process reveals symmetrical shapes and angles that epitomize the very idea of a bridge, which connects geographic units and peoples. The created drapery romanticizes the bridge and the act of draping as referred to in Hegel’s theory of aesthetics is significant. The whole atmosphere around Le Pont Neuf changed and brought understanding to the parallels between the past and present. Christo and Jeanne Claude’s goal for their piece was to bring the joy and beauty back to Paris. However, as my paper will address: How is wrapping a four hundred eight year old bridge considered as a beautiful creation? The Le Pont Neuf Wrapped is ingenious as the artwork creates Through my essay I am going to explain the beauty of the Le Pont Neuf Wrapped by exploring the performativity and environmental aspects of its aesthetics value, symmetrical form and surrounding space.a sense of balance and proportion; it has the purpose of bringing back nature into an urban environment.
Tammy Knight – Fe/Male Nude
In our art history education, we are asked to contemplate, generate ideas, and think critically about past art works. We are told to have our own opinions about said art works of human figures, while many are unclothed and seem to be in a natural state. When looking at a nude work of art, we are told not to focus on the lack of clothes but the underlying meaning, but isn’t the nudity really the underlying meaning? The subjects in these art works are nude for a reason, whatever reason that may be. From early childhood, whether it is through cultural, educational, or religious upbringings, we as students have been conditioned to think of nudity as inappropriate, especial the female nude. Although, this conditioning is relatively new, we are still forced to view the female nude body as a taboo, and naturally demeaning; whereas, the male nude body is viewed as aesthetically privileged, something of a spectacle that is pleasing.
Painting and sculpture have become a passive mediums, whereas, for almost two centuries now, photography has become an advance and aggressive medium. Photography allows us to view people and things more accurately than ever before. In terms of nudity, this subject has advanced into a becoming a special field within photography. Now with the camera’s gaze we view nudity within the parameters of composition and framing in detail, but I argue that practice where this is the new exploitation of either male or female nude body. A large definition gap also ties in, the opposition between naked, huddled and defenseless, and nude, to be oneself. Faced now with this mission, I will research why the image of the nude female body is given a lesser value compared to that of a nude male body. I will explore different resources to try to uncover the paradoxes between the statuses of the female and male nude in photography throughout this paper.
Ryan Hester – Defacement of Life
I am suggesting that graffiti art is a radical form of expression that aims to change the present and the future. My conception for reaching the future in art is through the reordering of subject matter so that the artwork itself dominates its particular parts. In 1983, Jean Michel Basquiat created Defacement (The Death of Michael Stewart) to memorialize Michael Stewart’s death. He wanted to challenge the police brutality that black men continue to face. Michael Stewart, a black man, was a graffiti artist who was murdered by the police in the streets of New York. This could have easily happened to Basquiat at the same time of this incident since he was a street artist working in New York. Graffiti is debatably the first form of art to have ever existed, dating back to 23,000-25,000 B.C.E. and the caves of Africa. Paintings on cave walls or Graffiti are forms of communicating through a different lens and creating a new language. It becomes a way to deconstruct formality and create something new. In my proposition I will seek to open and expand the viewer’s insight into graffiti art. Graffiti aims to provoke dialogue between the public and the political world. This art form is revolutionary in the sense of how it includes expression with life experiences at the same time breaking the structure and liberating the “self” of expression. My title “Defacement of Life” is dealing with life in a formal representation and acts as an extension of the work expressing past and present times.