Daniel Gallardo
Art 100
Identity
In artwork the use of identity is played out in a number of different types portraiture that
can be quite complex. A number of different artists focus on this theme because it is an open
spectrum that portrays the relationship shared between the artwork itself, and the identity of that
which is being depicted. Three particular women whose work stood out to me were Jenny
Saville, Cindy Sherman, and Kara Walker. They each have very specific techniques that they
like to use to form their artwork in which they incorporate different types of different issues that
our society deals, and has dealt with e.g. racism, slavery, sexism, ideal body imagery. Regardless
of what popular culture would call grotesque she still finds a way to portray a different side of
the people in the painting, and allowing an expression to be given regardless of judgements
(Long).
Jenny Saville captures the attention of the viewer by portraying the bodies of women in a
way that most classic art was not known for. She has also given a great deal to contemporary art
through her controversial works of art that show an extremely revealing side of the larger female
body, but still remains true to the classic style of oil painting in a world that has become
extremely dependent on technology (Gagosian). Saville was going outside of the normal
spectrum and stepping into an area that portrays the bodies of women who would be considered
less desirable than paintings that focus on the ideally attractive skinny woman. She also stepped
in to the realm of painting about mutilation, and transgender individuals who used to be men that
had breast implants, and would focus on their genitals to make emphasis on their sexuality.
Her artwork has helped shape contemporary art by introducing the idea of drawing very
large naked women. As a feminist she chooses to show the female body in a different way. She
forces you to look at a fat woman’s body that tends to make people feel uneasy. The paintings
are very fleshy, and accentuate the fat of these women’s bodies. Her style has changed the way
women are seen by drawing them the way they are and focusing on the fact that they are very
large women by increasing the size of the painting themselves.
Her focus has been on the perception of women thinking that their bigger than they really
are. It is allowing for a very powerful creation because these paintings unleash the body and
create a whole new perception on the idea of being fat and naked in art. The willingness for
women to accept themselves by breaking through the barriers of social media that accept a
certain type of image as “Beautiful” is very powerful. She goes beyond all social media and has
created artworks that focus on the beauty of the excess mass, and has not been afraid to portray
her own body in these paintings. The paintings take the body and almost force the viewer to look
at the person with positive attitude regardless of how incongruous it might seem.
Cindy Sherman has worked to show the face of the fictional world creating characters
that were not particularly part of any film but she creates characters based around basis of
women film work (Yablonsky). Her art has been put up for interpretation because her focus has
always been on the importance of film because of the roles that it has played in her own life. She
has an incredible ability to create costumes, and changer her image to show how women’s roles
in culture are captured in film (Adato). Photography is her tool, but she herself is the medium
that leads to the amazing depictions of women, as well as men. The use of photography has had
major effects on how people interpret the art because the focus is beyond the fact that they are
just photographs, but they are capturing an illusion of the premise she has based for her each
piece of work.
Sherman’s focus on stereotypes helps portray women in that fashion by putting them out
there for people to see. It helps get an understanding of these stereotypes with an attempt to help
alter the status quo and create a new way of looking at women. In a world that is shifting to
allow women to become more productive citizens, and gain equality it is vital that we portray the
way they are seen in a new era that has women gaining more opportunities that include them
entering higher education at a higher rate than men, better jobs, and sexual autonomy.
Contemporary art has benefited from the unique ideas that she has created because she
has chosen to create characters regardless of how odd they might be but she captures a side that
most people would not see. Clowns became one of her interests which led to her focusing on the
life and decision to want to be a clown. She considers those questions so she can try and depict
the life of clown and their role in the world. Who knows how often people think about clowns,
and the people behind the make-up but she puts herself in that position for one to look at and
interpret it.
Kara Walker focuses on people in an interesting way that that captures the image of the
people’s identities through an intense silhouette. She uses the cut outs as a way of expressing the
lives of slaves, and their masters as well as the struggle that is bestowed upon the lives of blacks
who had been forced into slavery (STILLMAN). She captures a whole different side of art when
she uses a black colored paper in her creations leaving the shapes of the silhouettes to show you
the differences. Looking closely at each piece you can see the outline of what kind of clothes the
slaves were given, compared to their masters.
When she displays her work at galleries for people to see she has a very interesting way
of including the audience by putting up projectors that would put the shadow of the viewer’s so
they could become a part of the artwork that was being carried out (Harvey). The viewer’s
become a piece of the artwork by simply walking up to it and including their black shadow upon
the wall. Walker has a very strong focus on silhouette shadows in her art work because of the
inclusion that it creates in large rooms because of the amount of space her work takes up it
allows her to still add more to an already large scale piece of work.
Regardless of whether the people are very large, fat, and naked or they are stereotypical
slim beautiful make up covered women, or black cut outs of black paper lined up across a wall
each one of these artists brings out a unique portrayal of the people that they have chosen to
focus on in their work. Beauty is put into the eyes of the those who view it however they choose
but to look past what you see in the pictures themselves, and try to understand why the artist
would draw them is the focus.
People must look into the painting and understand why an artist would choose these
styles that focus on people who are, or were once considered to be ugly, or lesser human beings
and put them into art form so everyone can see it. The message behind these types of art shows
how our world views all people, and how they are judged. Slaves are judged by the color of their
skin, where they are from on the other hand you have large women who have been regarded as
less beautiful because of the size and shapes of their bodies disregarding the variation and beauty
that is humankind which includes all shapes and sizes, and last you have women being
stereotyped by films and media that has oppressed women for years. These stereotypes have held
back women’s advancement in society, and these forms of art bring out these issues for the world
to see so that changes can be made. Contemporary art is being shaped by the issues that have
faced humans all over the world but are now being taken seriously, and bringing out true change
to a world full of racism, sexism, oppression, and inequality.
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