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Do You See Yourself as a Feminist Artist?
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Amy Wilson
Amy Wilson is an artist who has shown her drawings and paintings with Bellwether, PS1, The Drawing Center, The Warhol Museum, the Grolier Club, Josee Bienvenue Gallery, PPOW, and many other spaces. Her work has been reviewed in the NY Times, Art in America, Time Out NY, the Village Voice, as well as other publications. Amy now shows with Bravin Lee Programs in NYC. She received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts (1995) and her MFA from Yale (1997). She teaches in the Art History, Fine Arts, and Visual and Critical Studies departments at SVA. amy-wilson.com
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Amy Wilson
I’m back from visiting PAFA and it was a lovely, if somewhat grueling trip (yeesh – 12 studio visits in one day? who does that?). The students were super nice and there’s a lot of good work going on there.
Anyway. During the artist’s talk there was a question asked that I get a lot and, upon coming home and seeing Jeff, I hear that it’s a question that’s popping up a lot in his art criticism classes as well.
The question was: Do you see yourself as a feminist artist? The answer is… well…
On one hand, no. I tend to see feminist art as being specifically didactic in a way that my work is not. What’s more, if I made gigantic abstract paintings ripped straight from the 1940s/50s and you asked me if I was an Abstract Expressionist, my answer would be: No. How could I be? My work could, perhaps, be in dialogue with AE, or a reaction to/against AE, but how could I personally be an Abstract Expressionist? I was born a little late for that. Perhaps if Jackson Pollock had been my professor, or if I felt embraced and encouraged by the AEers, then maybe… but we’re assuming I wasn’t. Just like I have never especially felt embraced or encouraged by the Judy Chicagos and Miriam Schapiros of the world.
On the other hand, feminist art is one of those things: Are you with us or against us? If I stand there in front of this audience at this academy and flat out say, No – I’m not a feminist artist, what sort of message does that send? That I’m somehow afraid or ashamed of the history of feminist art? That I’d much rather cozy up to the guys in the audience than acknowledge that there is definitely a feminist influence on my work, even if I don’t consider it to be 100% wholly feminist?
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That’s what makes this question suck so much. It’s a fair question, but I hate it all the same. I wound up giving as honest an answer as I could (basically, a shorter version of what I just wrote), mentioning along the way that I always lend my work to feminist art exhibits when asked, for the same sort of complicated reasons. Do I want to be the artist who clearly states, No, you can’t include my work – I’m not a feminist? Jesus, of course not. But ultimately, I tend to think that if we’re giving feminist art its due, we have to acknowledge that it dealt (perhaps “deals” – don’t feel like arguing that one) with the condition of women in general, women as a population, that sort of thing… whereas my work is really just about me, my life, my experiences. Period. I don’t speak for anyone else, nor would I ever want to.
So… it’s complicated. And I would say that my response to it will probably be ever-evolving. But one more thing that I wish I had said…
Kara Walker’s experiences with an older generation of African-American artists will sound familiar to any younger female artists who have tried to reach out to the older generation of feminist artists. The results are nearly always horrible: No matter how much we approach them as drooling art fans, we get told that our work is awful, a sell-out, and that we generally suck; that their generation was the best and always will be and ours knows nothing at all, the end. I feel pretty ok saying that the artists who I have met who have been the most mean and the least welcoming to me have been older feminist artists.
Which means, of course, when I’m in a Q&A session in a relatively conservative art school being asked, Do you consider yourself to be a feminist artist? my answer comes back as a mixed bag. Do I want to jump up and throw my arms around these artists who have been incredibly cruel to me and my friends? Well, no. Honestly, I’d like to tell them to go fuck themselves, to retire already, and that their (current and ongoing) behavior and attitude does more harm than good to younger female artists. But do I want to be that girl who breezes into town and disses a group of artists who clearly have made it possible for me to make and show my work? No. That’s not really a good solution either.
Do you see yourself as a feminist artist? Discuss
LauraRoberts
about 1 year ago
10 comments
If women are telling themselves that there are no inequalities in the realm of gender, they should look at the media - a direct reflection of our culture.
I think that people still think feminism = man hater/bra burner. That's such an archaic idea. We're talking about equality of power and respect. It's not there yet, just as issues surrounding racism aren't solved.
alexkancharla
about 1 year ago
46 comments
As artists we all have to admit that we go through stages, especially as young artists.. I can say I am a feminist artist because I am going through that stage. I know nothing about the feminist movement, I just know what I feel, and right now I'm at war with men. It's simple really.
artbybabz
about 1 year ago
20 comments
oops.. that meant to say true to oneself and being a woman ... is a feminist actions .. there she is working in that realm...
artbybabz
about 1 year ago
20 comments
all women working on the daily issues of life are true to themselves and no that note reveal their true nature which is always feminist. Dharma
cdroth
about 1 year ago
2 comments
...superficial response to a complex question...
erinterryn007
about 1 year ago
8 comments
I myself, being a female artist have asked myself this question before as well, and the answer that I have repeatedly come up with is No, No I am not a feminist artist. I have created pieces that are directly related to my anger with a member of the opposite sex, but this does not mean that my voice is a feminist one. The few pieces that were out of anger, I guess, could be taken out of context and deemed as such, but the truth is, many of my "Art Gods" are men, not women. I had the chance to see the Guerilla Girls perform at my university while I was attending, and honestly it just made me roll my eyes and leave early. There is no reason to assume that you didn't get into a big show just because you weren't screwing the art director, or that the only reason why other women DID get is was because they WERE screwing one of the higher ups. I have always been taught that if my work didn't get in, it either wasn't what they were looking for, or wasn't of a high enough caliber to be exhibited alongside whatever talent they DID choose. Feminism was a necessary movement that paved the way for women and their voices, but quite frankly, the movement has passed, women HAVE voices in the art world, and it is time for the Femi-natzis to simmer down a bit, and give the rest of us a chance to pick up the torch, rather than try to burn us with it.
isabell
about 1 year ago
4 comments
Every generation thinks the one that comes after it is just "not geting it". The generation of feminist artists that broke it open for us all is no exception.
There is a cultural void that we speak from today, that they did not have. It has little to do with gender, and more to do with the personal experience of being raised in it.
An artist that day will reflect that which they are in. Its different for every generation. The older artists feel they cant relate to the newer work, the younger new artists dont really know what they are chanelling. It is a confused mess to try to compare, and give a name to, new art.
One thing that both generations have is angst!! Not the best of bridges...?
Well, thank you, great article, if somewhat didactic... :)
isabell
about 1 year ago
4 comments
Every generation thinks the one that comes after it is just "not geting it". The generation of feminist artists that broke it open for us all is no exception.
There is a cultural void that we speak from today, that they did not have. It has little to do with gender, and more to do with the personal experience of being raised in it.
An artist that day will reflect that which they are in. Its different for every generation. The older artists feel they cant relate to the newer work, the younger new artists dont really know what they are chanelling. It is a confused mess to try to compare, and give a name to, new art.
One thing that both generations have is angst!! Not the best of bridges...?
Well, thank you, great article, if somewhat didactic... :)
LauraRoberts
about 1 year ago
10 comments
sorry...i didn't mean to post that three times. haha, it was my ANGST!
LauraRoberts
about 1 year ago
10 comments
Feminist Art as a specific time period is something we, as artists, cannot be a part of. But take a look at how many women aren't included in art museums...why is that? Women weren't able to obtain the tools to make art, the models, the education...etc, etc. So women artists are relatively new, and are constantly going against the grain. Subject matter that women deal with is inherently different then that of men. So, i believe that feminist art can include every woman no matter what her subject matter.
"Feminism is the radical notion that women are people."
It's that simple. And the fact that you are an artist, and you are a woman says a lot for people who try to tell us otherwise.
LauraRoberts
about 1 year ago
10 comments
Feminist Art as a specific time period is something we, as artists, cannot be a part of. But take a look at how many women aren't included in art museums...why is that? Women weren't able to obtain the tools to make art, the models, the education...etc, etc. So women artists are relatively new, and are constantly going against the grain. Subject matter that women deal with is inherently different then that of men. So, i believe that feminist art can include every woman no matter what her subject matter.
"Feminism is the radical notion that women are people."
It's that simple. And the fact that you are an artist, and you are a woman says a lot for people who try to tell us otherwise.
LauraRoberts
about 1 year ago
10 comments
Feminist Art as a specific time period is something we, as artists, cannot be a part of. But take a look at how many women aren't included in art museums...why is that? Women weren't able to obtain the tools to make art, the models, the education...etc, etc. So women artists are relatively new, and are constantly going against the grain. Subject matter that women deal with is inherently different then that of men. So, i believe that feminist art can include every woman no matter what her subject matter.
"Feminism is the radical notion that women are people."
It's that simple. And the fact that you are an artist, and you are a woman says a lot for people who try to tell us otherwise.
JQWilliams
about 1 year ago
44 comments
I completely agree, it is so hard to call yourself a feminist artist for so many reasons. For me, there is the issue of being pin holed. I am an artist, I support feminism, oftentimes my work deals with feminism. But, that is not all that I am, nor is that all that my art focuses on.
mjgolsen
about 1 year ago
6 comments
hahaha. nice rant. really a call to the grown ups to act like it. it's not up to the young to understand the old but v.v. it is up to the young to learn from the old.
original
about 1 year ago
2 comments
UMM... Good points.