Five Artists

It is well known that women artists have a harder time than men getting started and recognized in the art community. Even though their work is on par or even better than most male artists, female artists’ work is often overlooked or ridiculed simply because of their gender. Female artists had to, and still have to, work much harder than men to get their voices heard which causes them to be that much more remarkable. Artists like Mickalene Thomas, Kara Walker, Jenny Saville, Yoko Ono and Ida Applebroog used their work to challenge sexist and racist ideas that circulated throughout the centuries.

Mickalene Thomas is an African american artist from Camden, New Jersey, born on January 28, 1971. She specializes in making paintings with acrylic, rhinestones and enamel. Her paintings focus on what it means to be a woman and/or a african american woman. Through her work she tries to re identify black women and give them some positive representation since they have not received a lot through the centuries, especially in art. “Thomas has created a body of work that expands notions of beauty, gender, and race and offers a complex, celebratory vision of what it means to be a woman— and particularly a black woman—today.”(https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/mgmmyv/mickalene-thomas-interview). Her work includes painting of nude African American women in exotic settings. She does this not to objectify or demean the women but to empower them. In 2008, Thomas even did a portrait of former first lady, Michelle Obama, title “Michelle O”.

Michelle O. 2008

         

A Little Taste Outside of Love, 2007

Another female artist who depicts African American culture and uses race as a central theme for her work is Kara Walker. Walker is a an african american painter from New York, however she was born in Stockton, California on November 26, 1969. “New York-based artist Kara Walker is best known for her candid investigation of race, gender, sexuality, and violence through silhouetted figures that have appeared in numerous exhibitions worldwide.”(http://sikkemajenkinsco.com/index.php?v=artist&artist=4eece69f3eb4e). Walker would paint graphic and horrific images of how the South was in America. She drew inspiration from the time period of slavery and included african american stereotypes in her work. Her work was first received as obscene, inappropriate and offensive but she continued to make art that caused question to be asked. She outright challenged racial inequality and showed this in her historical artwork. One of her famous pieces of artwork is,
“Gone: An Historical Romance of a Civil War as It Occurred Between the Dusky Thighs of One Young Negress and Her Heart (1994)”. This piece depicts the way african americans were treated and seen back then simply because of their skin color and the overall horror taking place during that time period.

2015: Go To Hell or Atlanta, Whichever Comes First (exhibition)

Jenny Saville is a feminist painter from Cambridge, England. She is known for her large collection of female nude paintings. She too inspiration from people she would encounter in her everyday life and painted honest depictions of the female body. She uses oil paint to make a almost watercolor look on the canvas. “Jenny Saville paints female nudes in extreme states of grotesque exaggeration—deformed, obese, brutalized, or mutilated—working against the male-dominated history of idealized portraits of women”(https://www.artsy.net/artist/jenny-saville). One of her most famous pieces of art is called Shift which she made in 1970. This painting depicts a nude, voluptuous woman. These paintings show the realities of the nude female body, therefore empowering it.  

Shift, 1996-1997

Another feminist artist is Ida Applebroog who is a painter from Bronx, New York. She was born November 11, 1929. Applebroog often paints about the theme of gender. “Since the 1970s Applebroog has been known for creating paintings, sculptures, artists' books and several films that often explore the themes of gender, sexual identity, violence and politics.”(http://www.womenartists.info/ida-applebroog). Some of Applebroog’s paintings were featured in the Museum of Modern Art like Chronic Hollow in 1989 and Beulahland (For Marilyn Monroe) in 1987.

For Marylin Monroe

Ethics of Desire

Yoko ono is an Japanese American artist from New York. She was born February 18, 1933 in Tokyo, Japan. In a lot of her works she explored the theme of feminism. She specializes in performance art the most famous one called “Cut piece” of 1964. In this piece she had members of the audience come on stage and cut off pieces of her clothing until she was in her underwear while she sat perfectly still. “The process of witnessing clothes cut from the body elicited a range of responses from the audience. Themes of materialism, gender, class, and cultural identity were central to the work.”(http://www.theartstory.org/artist-ono-yoko-artworks.htm#pnt_3).

Cut Piece

In conclusion, art is something that anybody can appreciate regardless of race, gender, age or class. However, some artists have a harder time than others getting their artwork in the public eye and appreciated for what it is. These artist include female artists and even more so african american female artist. These artist did not let white male oppression stop them from making art and being socially informative at the same time. All five female artist previously mentioned made a name for themselves throughout history by not giving up even when their art was not initially accepted and appreciated. They did not let the white patriarchy tell them how to make their art and what a woman should be doing. Mickalene Thomas, Kara Walker, Jenny Saville, Yoko Ono and Ida Applebroog are all exceptional female artists who deserve to be recognized.

Bibliography 
http://www.lehmannmaupin.com/artists/mickalene-thomas/press/1744
https://www.artsy.net/artwork/marlene-dumas-naomi

https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/mgmmyv/mickalene-thomas-interview

(http://www.theartstory.org/artist-ono-yoko-artworks.htm#pnt_3

http://www.womenartists.info/ida-applebroog