Listed below are three contemporary artists that use this strategy in their work when confronting issues of gender, race, and sexuality...We said recently that painting was the medium for the Modernists, but photography is the medium for Postmodernism. Please take a few moments to check out the links for the artists, google images, then respond to the comments below.
Catherine Opie
How do either of these artists above use the concept of the "gaze" to communicate the content of their works?
After looking at images of the artists works do you view the subject matter any differently?
What do you think are the most powerful ways in which individuals use their bodies to express themselves visually in our culture today?
What cultural attitudes are reflected in the works of either of the artists listed above?
19 comments:
Well they are mainly pictures of the artist's self. And i think that trying their way of saying their free and they can look good in a picture is by drawing it. Now i wouldn't recommend doing that but that's their choice,and im not sure how it really compares to today's art.
I think in Cathrine Opie's piece the cultural attitude reflected in this piece is to show that the stereotypical idea that men cannot cry is wrong. Yet the tear is rather small compared to the bigger picture, and this is to exemplifie the idea that men feel they must hide their emotion to fit the cultural attitude we have established.
How do either of these artists above use the concept of the "gaze" to communicate the content of their works?
This idea is rather interesting … Yasumasa Morimura uses the gaze in a lot of her works. You can see that even though she is female she plays to the male “gaze” of power. I think this comes out the most in self portraits of herself. (http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/artpages/yasumasa_morimura_marilyn_monroe1.htm) Also, in the “gaze” of some of Morimura works I get this feeling of power though a very intense stare. (http://static.artcat.com/calendar/23ad4a9e0d3d925ad9183f239d52611667e0b061.jpeg) Barbara Kruger uses a whole different “gaze”. In Kruger’s works I feel the message is very straight forward though the use of the red letters against a contrasting black. Many of her works remind me of a warning sign. Something you have to read because your mind has been trained to do so. The combination of colors and graphic creates this “gaze” that forces you to read the work and try and make sense of the statement. Catherine Opie’s works I think use an unbiased “gaze”. You just see people in everyday situations. Yes there are some feelings and emotions attached to their poses and facial features but it seems more authentic and not posed or forced. So how does the way these artists use “gaze” affect the context of their work? Well in Morimura case you see a lot of pictures of women or the busts of what seems and are portrayed to be powerful men. Without this “gaze” Morimura works would not portray this power and in turn have a completely different effect. Kruger context is almost self explanatory due to her “gaze”. She is seen as someone who goes against the grain and is an activist. This is shown all though the work with the use of “gaze”. Opie context is very vague and authentic, with pictures of people in everyday situations or poses. And so the “gaze” in her photographs is not as overwhelming as the other two artist’s “gazes”. In general the artists have similar styles and subject matter it is the “gaze” that sets the artists contexts so far apart from one another.
i think one of the most powerful ways in which artist use their bodies is when they use themselves and not others. the use of "gaze" can be used in almost any drawing or painting of a person. but i think when its the artists themselves gazing in their own artwork....that to me is the most powerful way an artsit can express the point that they are trying to make.
I concentrated on the question How do either of these artists above use the concept of the "gaze" to communicate the content of their works? I believe Yasumasa Morimura uses the gaze in his artwork for female viewers. This is very different from previous artist where the gaze was primarily for male viewers. He inserts himself in art history when he creates his works of art to express his inner feelings and provoke feelings and emotion. When I look at this image my gaze is directly on the naked man in the center. (I think this is Morimura.) The other man in the artwork is staring at the naked man and this also focuses my eyes on the naked man. I like how Morimura used the idea of the gaze to create a artwork that grabs your attention and creates thought about it.
Catherine Opie photo shows a judgement of men & how strong they suppose to be & their stereotyped about their masculinity. The photograph shows a man or women who has a mustache & a tear drop flowing from his/her eye,this shows that men are sterotyped not to cry and should always be very masculine. The way people and the world portray men is really brave & strong, their made to never show any kind of emotion.
1I think the most powerful ways individuals use their bodies to express themselves visually in our culture today is by being nude. Individuals today think nudity is a way of expressing yourself, in a way of being free and letting go. I also think people use their bodies to express themselves is by getting tattoos on their bodies, that represents something about them.
I agree with kgrimes. he or she spoke about the most powerful way an artist can use the human body as a tool, and that way would be using their own body. I believe this is so powerful because the artist can really show the viewers what message they are trying to get across. Also, by using their own body as the main tool the artist can connect with their work on a whole other level. All together the artist being in the actual art work really can intensify it and make it much more powerful.
I think that the artist's use the "gaze" to communicate some kind of emotion to the viewer, it draws the viewer in to the art work. I also think that the most powerful way an artistcan use the body is to use their own body, this shows that they are really becoming a piece of the their art work and i think it brings more meaning into the artwork itself.
Barbara Kruger uses the "gaze" in her words in the photo along with the black and white print of it. The letter communicate what is going on in the photo. In today's culture people express themselves in many different ways, such as the way they dress, facial expressions, how women wear their make up and hair.
When an artist refers to the "gaze" I feel that this is most effective with use of the artist's own body. This shows that the artist is really in touch with their art work and it brings the viewers attention not only to the artwork, but to the artist as well. To me, this is the most powerful way that an artist can use this so-called "gaze"
I think every artist uses "the gaze" to communicate the content of their work. "The gaze" shows the visual culture of the work. In Yasumasa Morimura's work she uses "the gaze" by making this work so the man has the power to view the woman that is being presented. This work implies that it is made for men and that it is a positive thing. Also, there are many powerful ways in which individuals can use their bodies to express themselves in our culture. Individuals can use different "props" with their body to express themselves differently. Individuals can express themselves by clothing, tatoos, and piercings. In Catherine Opie's work this mans face is being expressed by giving him a tear. Stereotypically men do not cry, and this work is showing this by his big face being so serious and adding the small tear. The attitude of this work is showing that men do not cry.
How do either of these artists above use the concept of the "gaze" to communicate the content of their works? When I think of the concept “gaze” I usually relate it to there being one person in the artwork like in Catherine Opie`s. It`s a direct picture of just his face and it makes the emotion obvious.
After looking at images of the artists works do you view the subject matter any differently? After looking at the images I do view the subject matter a little differently. Seeing the man with the tear and the plain background looked more staged, while the other ones seemed more everyday pictures like the boy with the surfboard.
What do you think are the most powerful ways in which individuals use their bodies to express themselves visually in our culture today? I think one of the most powerful ways individuals use their bodies today is by nudity. I think whatever the statement they want grabs a persons attention because its not a norm in our society for everyone. Some people are really uncomfortable with it and some are but either way it makes a big impact.
What cultural attitudes are reflected in the works of either of the artists listed above? I think Barbara Kruger wants to show a feminist attitude and a strong declarative attitude using text in a lot of her art and it makes a big difference.
The way the artist uses the "gaze" in these pieces of art is that the person is looking directly at you in the work. The way people express themselves is through their body and expressions. The artist draws himself of someone else in the way they see it.
Refering to the question about how people use their bodies to express what they are tring to say or how they are feeling I think that this is one of the most expressive forms of art. Every persons body language tells a story and I think that the body has so much to say about what that person is feeling or thinking. When artists choose to paint the body of another person it is very intriguing and powerful but even more so ibeleive that when the artist uses themselves in a painting it says so much. There are so many ways to view people but each person has their own view of who they are and what they look like. When you see an artist paint themselves it tells a completely different story. They may be expressing what they are hiding and what they are longing to tell soemone. All in all I think that the body is VERY powerful and there is so much that can be said about the human body.
The artists use gaze as a way to draw the viewer in. Using the body is a good way to express yourself being as though everyones body tells a differet story for the most part. Whether it's thousands of body piercings or a simple tatoo on the forearm...there's some form of self expression involved.
How do either of these artists above use the concept of the "gaze" to communicate the content of their works?
-In Morimura's work I found different uses of the gaze. The monky face in the picture has a gaze on the naked man in the picture. The man in the picture is gazing out to the viewer and I found myself gazing at the naked man and the monkey face.
What cultural attitudes are reflected in the works of either of the artists listed above?
-I think in Barbara Kruger's picture she is talking about how many men are afraid to be affectionate with others, however they partake in sports, such as wrestling, which are considered to be "manly" even though it involves being very close with another male and how it is considered appropiate to be so very close to another man when it involves a sport and inappropiate to be close to another man in other cases.
i feel that indivuals express themselves in the most powerful way possible, their apperience. the way a person dresses and carries themselves, people are expressing themselves with bodyart and piercings. they are performing modifications to change or perfect something. we are in charge of our apperience and to show others how we either feel or dont.
Yasumasa Morimura's painting shows the gaze uniquely as inside the painting there is another woman staring at the woman in focus. Contrast this to the way men would look at her and they are very different. It looks like she would be her servant or something of that nature and is awaiting instructions but the gaze from a male viewer is much different.
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