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Visual Rhetoric - Visual Culture - Pedagogy
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Women in Art (more rhetoric of the montage) |
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Visual Rhetoric - Visual Culture - Pedagogy
Site informationRecent Blog Posts
|
Women in Art (more rhetoric of the montage) |
TagsRecent comments
|
Comments
Consider that these images
Consider that these images have been appropriated and montaged by someone other than all of the artists included. Also consider that the term itself, and thus 'African-Americans,' did not exist when many of these works were created. & Manet's "Olympia."
terminology
Does the body only come into existence when it is named? Both the original paintings and the montage selected by the person are acts of discrimination, representations of groups (women) and characteristics (beauty) in the realm of high art (painting) and popular art (youtube, moving image). Simply because a term did not exist does not mean that people of color did not exist in the worlds of these painters. I would also note that in Manet's Olympia, the focus, light, arrangement all indicate that it is indeed Olympia, the nude white woman that Manet promotes as an ideal beauty, not her black servant, fully clothed, submissively hidden behind of basket of flowers offered to garnish the dish we are to consume.
mediums
I think that a lot of the disparities have to do with the medium. The women in film were all photographs. Photographers aren't typically going to change too much when doing biographical photography.
However, if it is a painting, so much could be changed. It depends on WHO is doing the painting. If it is a self-portrait, the painter may do something completely different than if it is a painting by a hired portrait artist or a friend.
Also, it depends on who the audience for the piece of work is for. Is it for posterity's sake or for a family member?
I really think there are reasons that disparities may or may not occur. That being said, the idea of what is beautiful, that aesthetically pleasing face, is surely to change over time. Portraits in art, however, weren't always done for the beauty of it. Many times they were done to create a historical record.
"Mediums"
It's naive to think that"photographers aren't going to change too much when doing biographical photography." Every decision the photographer makes influences how we read these images, from lighting choices to shooting angles, and a whole host of other technical means through which a photographer can, quite literally, construct the image. If that weren't the case, there wouldn't be much point in having this blog.