About the Exhibition Theme: Man as Object - Reversing the GazeSince the early years of Feminist Art, women artists have responded to their subjugation in art by male artists by using their own bodies as the subject matter in their work. We credit feminist art of the 1970s with giving artists today the "permission to be personal". There is a difference in women's art from the work of male counterparts. We see the nude woman from different angles. The feminist artist chooses a personal vantage point, apart from that seen in men's portrayals of women. The thesis of woman as both surveyor and the surveyed continues.
"Men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves. The surveyor of women in herself is male: the surveyed female ... thus she tums herself into an object-and most particularly an object of vision: a sight".
Ways of Seeing, by John Berger The goal of this exhibition "Man as Object: Reversing the Gaze" is to turn the tables and to exhibit works that put the male in the position of object and spectacle. Not only will the male be taking on the female role, but the surveyor is now female, no longer a "masculine" part of the female, thus creating a truly Feminist stance. The male is the object and spectacle for the audiences enjoyment or mere viewing. This is effective in two ways: as the male viewer encounters the male nude, he is required like many women before him to tum the mirror on himself and secondly to feel the powerlessness of being owned and objectified. The individualism of the artist, the thinker, the patron, the owner, and the woman is transformed. The person who is the object of their activities, the man, is treated as a thing or an abstraction. By reversing the unequal relationship between genders, and gender identity, that is so deeply embedded in our culture, men will do to themselves what they have done to women for centuries. They observe themselves and their own masculinity as women observe their own femininity. RE-SEXUALIZE BLOG
Performance artist Chanel Matsunami Govreau will debut 'Hapa Bruthas' at the Nov. 4, 2011 Opening Reception. Included in the performance is her blog, Re-Sexualize, which documents her inquiry into Asian American male sexuality. Click here to see how she is researching and developing her performance. |
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Header Image (left): Della Calfee, Men As Table, Archival paper, 14 x 11 inches, 1991.
Header Image (middle top): Erika Meriaux, Heracles and Omphale, Oil on linen canvas, 48 x 28 inches, 2010.
Header Image (middle top): Erika Meriaux, Heracles and Omphale, Oil on linen canvas, 48 x 28 inches, 2010.
