Sarah Lucas at the New Museum__visual research

The exhibits, Sarah Lucas: Au Naturel, includes installations, photographies and sculptures created by Sarah Lucas, spreading on three floors of New Museum. The title of the exhibit is the same as one of her installation that assembles objects that are suggestive of sexual organs on a mattress. Through the exhibit, Sarah provides a provocative and profound response to sexuality and identity. The exhibit is relevant to stereotypes and identity because as a female artist, Sarah presents the masculinity in her work in an ironic way to subvert the stereotypes of man being powerful and holding authorities. Additionally, Sarah connects most of her artwork with her memories in the past such as the Toilet sets.

 

Creating by frail materials included Nylon tights, wire and lightbulb, the artwork named God is Dad is created by Sarah Lucas 2005. The artwork is the response of Sarah to the Iraq War on which she used the materials to carefully indicate. To be specific, the Nylon tights aren’t neat to look at, and the wire tightens the tights. The lightbulb would make the audience wonder why it was put there. On the wall text, it was said by her that the sorts of things in fact that you might just be able to find amid the rubble of a bombed-out city,” which is really appealing for afterthought to relate the materials to the bleakness of Iraq War. Besides, she was triggered by a propaganda poster named God is Dad in London, which made her think about patriarchy, giving the same name to this installation which would also reminds the audience of Freud’s theory of Oedipus complex. The tights appeared as image of girly wears and innocence. The wire restraints the rights with a thread hanged from the ceiling as if invisible power like God is controlling “puppet” on the ground. The lightbulb lighten the whole installation, being put near private part in the tight to offer a feeling of being uncomfortable and invaded.

 

The Sarah Lucas artwork that surprised me the most was Two Fried Eggs and a Kebab created in 1992, which displays two fried eggs and a kebab on a wooden table. This is one of her works that shown sexual identities onto domestic furniture. It surprised me because the foods are cooked and displayed daily by crew from the museum. Therefore, the work would look different every day. My favorite Sarah Lucas artwork was God is Dad because the work is really provocative as it motivates me to spend a long time thinking the meaning and what she intends to say. And I realized that every time I look back at the work, even when writing this post, can give a different understand on the work. From the museum visit I learned more aspects of conceptual art through contexts, implication and symbolizations. In this way, I get to know inspiring approaches to deal with the topic on stereotypes and identity.