Annie Kronenberg
12-4-20
Final Draft
Women create art that changes perspective and shifts the visions of many. Although, this was not always the case as women were not always given the opportunity to create and change minds. During the times in which Michelangelo and Van gogh were creating the works that we see as some of the best art ever created, women were not always allowed to attend school and were often tasked with starting families. These ideas play into Linda Nochlin’s “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” as this essay discusses the idea and significance of what this means in terms of oppression towards women’s education and vinson in society. Along with this idea, modern day photographer Tomoko Sawada uses her work to play with how people perceive her. Sawada has used various techniques to allow herself to challenge the standards of beauty and the way in which she is seen.
Tomoko Sawada is an artist who has paved the way for many with her art. Sawada has taken her life and dedicated it to something that will allow young women to feel better about themselves and be able to accept who they are as a whole. Through her work, she explored the beauty norms in the Asain Cultural and how young asian women are told throughout their lives to dress a certain way or aspected to have certain types of plastic surgeries. This proves to be something that psychologically speaking can have a vast effect on how young women sought out how they grow up. Tomoko took a series of photographs entitled “ School Days”. These images show a class photo
School Days By Tomoko Sawada
of Japanese young girls who are all dressed in the exact same school uniform and there is no uniqueness to anything that appears amongst them in their facial expressions. We try to teach our kids to be something that is the exact opposite of what we should. It is almost as though we teach our kids to act in a way that is almost broken. We teach our kids to be perfect and to be poised. Being a child means to express yourself.
School Days By Tomoko Sawada
Being a woman and an artist is something that was not always accepted. Throughout time, women have been seen as the homemakers and the people who are something. In the Essay, “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” by Linda Nochlin explores these concepts. These ideologies are withheld through sexism and the oppression of women. The artists that are often seen as the most popular and most accredited as Van Vogh, and Micheangelo. “ In art history, the white, Western male viewpoint is “unconsciously accepted as the viewpoint of the art historian.” Nochlin’s stated mission is to prove that this perspective is not only objectionable “on moral and ethical grounds, or because it is elitist” but because it is intellectually inadequate.” ( Hyperallergic, Tiernan Morgan & Lauren Purje) White men are the reason that these women are not getting the correct recognition for the women artists in the world. During the 1500s, there were very few artists that would appear in a simple google search during the time that Michaelangelo was alive. Catharina Van Hemmesen is a female artist who was known for her work in the mids 1500s did receive a bit of recognition for her work in that she was hung in the National Gallery in London. However, her work is not widely known and she is not an artist that is commonly taught in schools. There are very few pieces of hers that are seen and have recognised.
Catharina Van Hemessen
In my own creative process, I explored femininity and sexuality through nudity and body image. As a woman, I have struggled with feeling comfortable in my own skin and learning how to expect the rules in my stomach and the way my thighs jiggle. I would
Annie Kronenberg,2020
look at the celebrities and the role models that we were often given as kids and I could never relate to the women that were shown to me. I was stuck in this bubble
and was able to express these emotions.Fortunately, I found charcoal and the emotion within the media. Charcoal allowed me to put my full body into the story that I was imagining and allowed me to channel everything I was feeling into a line and into different levels of thickness. I found the charcoal was connected with my inner being and my soul. Throughout my life, I have struggled with abusive lovers, and anxiety with loving myself. The conte crayon was the one thing that was always there for me. At times, when I did not have the words to express myself, the line would find its way to emerge a story out of me.
An artist that impacted me and allowed me to see the importance in creating the work I do is Jenny saville. She is an artist known for creating pieces that are fluid and lively. There are many of her pieces which are often only finished in some parts and left in the background with loosened lines. This is something that has taught me to allow myself to keep fluidity in the work in which I create.
Jenny Saville
Analog Photography is an art form that one sees today as trendy and sophisticated. But, analog photography is a way of using photography. It was one of the first times that artists were able to reproduce photographs in a way that was easier than before. However, it did not start this way as when algong photography was invented it could take hours for an exposure to finish be taken. Many photographers struggled with this as the reasoning being that you could see the exposure and any interpretation within the exposure could result in it not working and not coming out to the way it needs to be. Although for some such “The idea of waiting for something makes it more exciting (Andy Warhol) and that on its own can be a treasure for many people.
Today with digital photography and editing software , we are able to capture, reshoot, and edit photos in a very quick manner and is more cost effective than analog. When you are a digital photographer, you are often making one big investment in the cameras and lenses you are buying. However, these materials if they are taken care of well can last someone a lifetime. In anglong photography, the process requires many chemicals and many processes that can be harmful to your body and your immune system. The products that are used to develop imagery often contain mercury which can be seen in people’s bodies who have cancer or other illnesses. However, for many there is something very powerful to watch the image develop as a whole.
Susan Rivers by Annie Leibovitz
The Power in the work by László Moholy-Nagy is one that is rather expressive and something as an artist I can really connect to as an artist because I am able to see the figure without seeing face and able to see the expression. I wanted to feel a personality in the imagery. The work was something that allowed me to see the work as a whole and allowed me to see something that shifted how I felt about the imagery. The coloring in the print had strong depth and something that was very intense and inserting to the eye as an artist. These works are one that allow people to shift their perspectives and to look at things in a different manner. I believe that when looking at these moments, we allow to us think further about photography and to be able to process this craft as a whole.
Works Cited
Purje, Tiernan Morgan & Lauren. “An Illustrated Guide to Linda Nochlin’s ‘Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?”.” Hyperallergic, May 23, 2017. https://hyperallergic.com/377975/an-illustrated-guide-to-linda-nochlins-why-have-there-been-no-great-women-artists/.
ARTnews, The Editors of. “From the Archives: Linda Nochlin on the Invention of the 19th-Century French Avant-Garde, in 1968.” ARTnews.com. ARTnews.com, November 18, 2019. https://www.artnews.com/art-news/retrospective/archives-linda-nochlin-invention-19th-century-french-avant-garde-1968-9237/
“Pin on Charcoal.” Accessed December 17, 2020. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/500884789802512109/.
