For this Learning Portfolio post, I wanted to talk about what I learned at the Whitney Museum of American Art. We visited the Museum and at the same time, we were looking for the artworks that relate to our choice of theme to see how other artists express similar ideas visually. Here are two artworks I found from the Museum representing the same idea with my theme — Gender.
First Sculpture
“Kitchen” 1991–1996
Liza Lou
This piece of artwork is a sculpture named “Kitchen” made by Liza Lou. She spent 5 years to finish this 32 inches in height and 77 inches in diameter human-size kitchen using beads, plaster, wood, and found objects. The sculpture is created with square and rectangular shows all around the room and form with diagonal and straight lines. This creates a sense of ‘arrangement’ that form by the women (housewife). The colors within this sculpture can be described as shiny, colorful, bright, and also fortuned. A representation of how a middle-class family’s kitchen would look like. The organic shapes on the cabinet are in contrast with the geometric shapes on the wall and the floor. This created contrast between the cabinet and the wall and the floor which makes the room seems more 3 dimensional. There are movements on this sculpture, where the flowing shapes on the cabinet, table, and chair lead us to see over the whole sculpture room. Talking about the rhythm of this sculpture, the square shapes on the wall, floor and the table cloth and the color blue on the wall, floor, and tablecloth creates the scene of repetition within the sculpture.
Lou’s purpose for this sculpture was to emphasize the “historical tracts about the lives of nineteenth-century women.” In Lou’s phrase, “argues for the dignity of labor”– “labor that here manifests as process and subject alike, and which is linked to gender, since crafts and kitchen work are traditionally female domains.” What Lou is trying to communicate is related to my choice of theme– Gender. Whereas I also wanted to phrase the inequalities between males and females as well as the family domestic placement for females.
Talking about the historical context of this sculpture; this piece of art is made during the nineteenth-century. According to my research on women’s lives during that time period. “Women and men were not equal in the 19th century. Women are seen as ‘the weaker sex.'” Especially those middle-class women, “they had no reason to leave the home or go to work” since they do not need to “worry about things like poverty.” And at the time they believed the “ideal woman was to be ‘the angel in the house’ and support her husband.” The “woman had very few rights of their own, particularly once they were married. Upon marriage, women became the property of their husbands.”
I think the reason for Lou to choose the beads as her main material is because she wants to represent the wealth of the middle class since this is commonly incidents that happen to a middle-class woman. And at the same time creating the contrast of how the wealthy middle-class women from the 19th century were being trapped in their small glory world ‘Kitchen.’ There was one small thing that really gets my attention. On the left side of the kitchen cabinet, there are sentences form by beats. It said, “The rose to his requirement dropped the playthings of her life. To take the honorable work. Women and of wife.” These sentences are writing to all the women from that time period. Which they are required to give up their own interest in life and to stay home for her family and think it is an honor of her to do this for her family.
When I first saw this sculpture I though this is a very interesting piece of artwork. When I see the sign for this work, it said the artist spent 5 years to finish this piece of sculpture. The work seems very well-made and looks expensive. But after I look more in detail and though more of the historical context and sees the meaning behind this artwork I delt very indignant. This sculpture is not just a piece of beautiful artwork but also act as a warning for people to understand the problems happening at that time and let people think more about what should be done for the society.
Second Sculpture
“Cupboard VIII” 2018
Simone Leigh
This piece of sculpture is created by Simone Leigh, named “Cupboard VIII” during the year of 2018. This is one of her many sculptures that signifies feminism and African American. This 125*120*120 inches sculpture is made with Stoneware, Steel, Raffia, Albany Slip. Talking about the material she chooses, the Albany Slip, “a special glaze made from glaciated clay found outside Albany, New York, that yields a deep brown color and an impermeable glassy coating.” This material was “once common in the 19th century, it is rare now.” This reminds me of the research I have done above for the sculpture “Kitchen” by the artist Liza Lou, “women’s live 19th century.” Whereas women were being treated unequally during that time period.
The sculpture is of an oversized female figure with a container head with no hair, no eyes, no ears, no nose. This let me the thought of women’s social expectations during that time. Where women are not intelligent enough to think or work professionally. What they are allowed or expect to do is to be a housewife. The figure is very tall and wearing a long dress that also symbolized the gender of this figure. I see the action of this figure, the looking down of the head and the reaching out of her hands. The action of her head looking down seems like how she thinks she is at a higher level of the hierarchy, I see this a representation of feminism. And her reaching hands seems to be an action that shows she is trying to give care towards someone (maybe her family members).
The material she used for the top part of the sculpture creates a good scene of smooth and well-shown the tenderness of a woman carried. The bottom part also well showed the roughness of the dress which I personally think it is representing the ‘toughness’ women could be. It also well shown the layers of the dress creating the 3-dimensional feelings toward the dress.
When I first saw this sculpture at the museum; my first thought was this should be something about traditional Africans. The materials and the colors Leigh decided for this sculpture created a good sense of representing those elements. After I looked at the top part of the sculpture closely I can also see this should be something related to women equalities, because it is interesting to see a female figure with a container head instead of showing the beauty of the female. There should be some kind of meaning behind it. Overall this piece of sculpture makes me feel peaceful and calm while I am looking at it.
