Women and Modernism/Postmodernism

Art is never linear, as time changes so does personalities and ideas and that is where the idea of Modernism and Postmodernism is introduced. 

Suzanne Valadon, The Blue Room, 1923

Modernism allowed a gateway for women to be more involved in the world of art, which  allowed artists to incorporate self expressions and feminists views in their paintings. During this time period women were starting to have access to education and that was were skills were developed and applied to enhance their art strategies. Although it was a period of radical change Women, such as Suzanne Valadon, were on the rise to change the view for equality. Author Whitney Chadwick writes “Women, Art, and Society” where she highlights the female representation during this era. Commonly male artist were able to freely express their passions through whatever they desired, artists such as Picasso drew women in an oppressive light “presenting women as powerless and sexually subjugated” (Chadwick 279). Valadon was one of the many examples where women were painted as simply art and not a sexual object, although her voice was ignored at first she obtained a voice through education.

Sonia Delaunay, Couverture de Berceau, 1911

In the painting, “The Blue Room”, Valadon portrays, “rejecting the static and timeless presentation of the monumental nude”excluding a seductive symbol that the idea of naked carries. The author continues, “ she emphasizes the awkward gestures of figures apparently in control of their own movements (Chadwick 285). Using her own body as a model allows her to portray the power that was stolen from female empowerment.

Inspired by the Dadaist the concept of Dada illustrated the idea of “traditional painting as static, materialistic form... and her liberal attitude” (Chadwick 272).  Sonia Delaunay has set herself as an example where she utilizes this ideology in her paintings, “Nothing she shows you resembles anything you have ever seen before. They are really new things” (Chadwick 272). Delaunay was also portrayed abstract painting. Abstract expressionism was also incorporated in the late 1940’s in which created a freedom through colors and different angles of painting. According to Chadwick’s descriptions it was “gesture as a rhetorical device and their investigation promise to shed light on this important area” (323). Women such as Krasner voluntarily exposed their feelings through colors and shapes to voice their silence. During the 1940’s and 50’s women were challenged in their skills as only men has the wings for art (323). Krasner was doubted on her ability to paint by her professor as he stated: 

Lee Krasner, Noon,1947

“The highest praise he offered his female student including Krasner, was contained in the remark: “this painting is so good you’d never know it was done by a women” (Chadwick, 323). The exposure to higher education brought many insights for the female community yet with that came many challenges, as much as men tried to pretend men and women were both equal, society was built on the idea that men would always be superior and adored as the strongest sex. Being able to publish “Noon”is a reward because during this time women artists were not able to receive acknowledgment for their success. In Abstract Expressionism: Other Politics, the author suggests that the “anonymity made possible by the gallery system—the dealer was visible but the artist was not—provided female artists with the chance to pass as men.” With the up rise in women in art and feminist art being brought to light during this modernist area, came along post modernism. 

Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #6, 1979

Branching off modernism, postmodernism continue to dissociate the idea  greatness only applied to men. Utilizing cultural styles for representation, breaking social norms to express real issues and creating radial ideas.  Postmodernism allowed artists, specially women, to expose the instability in society and education the real meaning behind a women body. Artists such as Cindy Sherman, her first by of works that makes her famous immediately at the beginning of her career which is odd because many women take years to take recognition for their work. Sherman untitled films are her way of addressing stereotypes and depicted in reality of how women is treated. The way women are viewed are the way they are treated, she extended the feminist conversation by successfully showing these things while using herself as the model. As “Untitled Film Still #6”may be interpreted as exposed, Sherman idea was for it to be empowering.

Guerrilla Girls’,  Definition Of Hypocrite, 1990

The group Guerrilla Girls author of “The Guerrilla Girls” are also contributors to the post modernism. The Guerrilla Girls art use words to often portray their meaning in art and  bring attention to the glossed societal norms that make believe that the gap between men and women are non existent, in the book they quote, “In the current postmodern era, more kinds of art practice and more kinds of artists are accepted and written into the historical record. This is creating a truer, richer picture of the present and the past” (Guerrilla Girls 90).  As Modernism allowed women artist to experiment and uncover exotic painting/sculpting styles post modernism is no longer expressing feelings in between the colors and shapes of the paintings. 

Sherman and The Guerrilla Girls are prime examples of the realism shown through art as political and social issues are now reflecting these changes. Chadwick also ties in the idea of postmodernism by where she says, “Postmodernism draws heavily on existing representations, rather than inventing new styles, and that it often derives its imagery from mass media or popular culture, has focused attention on the ways that sexual and cultural difference are produced and reinforced in these images” (Chadwick, 382). The postmodern art are mostly enhance art tactics used before in a form of empowerment, Guerrilla Girls show that through many of their art such as “Definition Of Hypocrite” where the art become uncomfortable and drives the audience to take a moment to think about the occurring issue presented to them. More often than not stepping out of your comfort zone is the way to push an individual to be bother enough to address it and that is what these women are aiming to do through their art and the art of their body. The timeline of women in art continue to progress and expand until today.
WORKS CITED:The Guerilla Girls, The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. Penguin Books, 2006.Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. Langara College, 2016
https://smarthistory.org/lee-krasner-untitled/
http://www.internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article2737