Join us for the CSUSB ART HISTORY CONFERENCE
Visual Art Center Room 221
JUNE 7TH AND JUNE 9TH, 2016, 1:00 TO 3:00
THE OBJECT OF GENDER, RACE, SEX IN THE SEEING WORLD
Tuesday, June 7th – 1:00 to 3:00, Room VA221
Danielle Yellen, “Women Performance Art in the Act of Silencing”
Women in art still do not own their voice. Women have been silenced since the beginning of art history as they believe in the roles given to them by the male academy. Performance art has opened up a platform for women to challenge the problem as explored in my research of artists Marina Abramovic, Shirin Neshat, and Ana Mendieta. Through a study of the phenomenology of silence, their performances express how the absence of words coupled with dramatic visual demonstrations can speak volumes for female society.
Debbie Nuno, “Sexism in Art: from the Fundamentals to Art Critiques”
Women artists have always been linked to femininity and their womanhood rather than being approached as simply an "artist" like their male counterparts. Sexism in art has always been present, from the fundamentals of art discourse to that found in an art critique. Supported by historical evidence and facts provided by The Guerilla Girls, my case study focusing on the work of Georgia O'Keeffe will show how society has viewed women artists since the 1970s until the present-day. This paper will update the social problem by raising the question "Is there still sexism in art?”
Katherine Campos Lozano, “Uncovering the Art Within Racism in Art”
Why is there so much racism and racial preference in art and its history? There are very few artworks that portray other races apart from white as artistic subjects, and if so, they are usually depicted as from a lower economic status or lower social class represented as slaves, fugitives, or gang members. Such stereotypes need to be broken in the art field and in every other field to demonstrate that other races matter and can achieve so much more through portraits of wealth, education and beauty.
Sandi Harageones, “Men Want to Be Looked At”
When most people think of the word “nude” in art, they think of the female nude. By the nineteenth century, the male nude lost its prominence bequeathed from the Greek statue and the female nude became the central focus in art. Today, the male nude is mostly associated with homoeroticism. In this paper, I will examine the male nude in photography in order to discover changes in “the gaze” that may be leading heterosexuals to once again become comfortable with the male nude.
Erick Rodriguez, “Lack of Diversity in Character Design in Animations and Other Art Forms”
The design of female characters in animation lacks diversity in terms of visual features, personality, and even movements. While female characters share similar facial and bodily features, male characters are each created with its very own unique design. Un-diverse female characters are not just a thing of the past since many animation studios today continue this practice – including Disney, Pixar, Sony, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network – as designers greatly affect young people's self-perceptions and their standards of "beauty."
Grace Torres, “Globalization and Hybridity”
The world of contemporary art has become a broader one, incorporating various cultures and therefore challenging the Eurocentric paradigm for the art world by making space for non-Euro-American artists. In globalization, artists share surprisingly similar concepts which can be seen in the influence of performance art and Chris Burden’s Shoot, 1971, on Xiao Lu’s Two Gunshots Fired, 1989. The literal mixing of cultures, people, and language expresses hybridity through bi-cultural and bi-lingual people who play a role as both artists and audiences.
THE SUBJECT OF THE ARTIST IN THE WORLD
Thursday, June 9th – 1:00 to 3:00, Room VA221
Silvia Lopez, “Sargent's Mysterious Sitter: Objectification and Subjectivity – Madame X and other Works by John Singer Sargent”
John Singer Sargent is famously known for his career-defining portrait of Madame X (1883), a painting with a demanding presence and bold statements about the artist himself. At first glance, the portrait resembles a woman of class and modest demeanor, but behind the veil of her pale flesh and haunting presence is the truth of the man who executed the painting. My analysis addresses how the artist objectified women and the intentions behind his creation of the female subject.
Nick Cannady, “Keith Haring’s Evolution as an Artist”
As an artist Keith Haring was making huge statements from a young age. Haring’s early work draws from religious art in a style that he would later hone and sharpen into a mass-produced craft. Growing up as a homosexual man brought a conflicting perspective to the church he knew. Haring began his artwork almost as a “Jesus freak,” but during the 1970’s and 80’s he likely saw religious activists carrying posters proclaiming pro-military, homophobic, capitalistic messages using Christian symbols and rhetoric. Later, Haring’s art refuted those messages by using the same symbols.
Ashley Lothyan, “John Baldessari: Artist-Subject-Object-Spectator”
Painted by hired sign painters and containing tips taken from an art trade magazine, John Baldessari’s photo and text paintings such as Tips For Artists Who Want to Sell, 1966, are works that mock the conventional classification, idea, and practice of art-making existing since ancient periods in art history. Baldessari’s works do not contain a subject or an object—rather information that is translated by the spectators’ physical and mental body, which thereby become the subject and object of the paintings.
Raven Johnson, “No Rest for the Wicked”
Francis Bacon’s painting Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X (1953) was inspired by Diego Velázquez’s, Portrait of Pope Leo X (1650). Bacon transformed Velázquez's image and instead of depicting Pope Leo as a powerful figure sitting on his throne, he portrays him enthralled in pain with a horrific scream plastered on his face. My paper will explore Bacon’s beliefs and sexuality to understand his world and how his feelings and views can be transcribed in his art.
Jessica Nunez, “The Forgotten Artist”
Francesco Borromini was before his time as an Italian architect and his works such as San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (1634-48) and Sant’lvo alla Sapienza (1642-60) are examples of his innovation in developing techniques of shape, symmetry, and curvature that show openness and symbolism in architecture. But Borromini was overshadowed by his contemporary Gian Lorenzo Bernini. I argue that Borromini deserves to be considered among the top artists of the Baroque period if not equal to Bernini and Caravaggio.
Analena Parris, “Carravagio and Violence”
Research into Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio’s personal life and dramatic flair will illustrate his increasing inclination for violence as unfolded in his artwork. Valued highly for his use of tenebrism, Caravaggio’s body of work also changed the way in which biblical paintings were viewed, creating controversy by depicting Christ and the saints among commoners, prostitutes and criminals. This treatment of sacred subjects allowed the artist a way to eventually express unparalleled violence. Caravaggio’s propensity for violence was entwined heavily with his dramatic personal life, leading to his eventual exile and death