Women artists are moving mountains with their artwork. Women artists are displaying the injustices and calling out the things happening every day. Artists such as Barbara Kruger, Betty Tompkins, Guerilla Girls, Tracey Emin and Jenny Holzer are artists that have reputations for challenging gender norms and race discriminatory through words. All these women have been through oppression due to being women, and it has affected their personal, along with their careers. These women all use words in order to make a powerful statement about women’s rights, and progressive ideas towards society.
Barbara Kruger is an American artist who focuses on sending the message through words. She was born in Newark, New Jersey and worked as graphic designer. She later went on to become an art director. She studied at Syracuse University and the Parsons School of Design in the 1960’s. She uses images with typed words which most of the time is a part of feminist culture. She sends messages out that are supposed to show stereotypes and the behaviors of consumerism. The website art.net states, “Kruger uses language to broadcast her ideas in a myriad of ways, including prints, T-shirts, posters, photographs, electronic signs, and billboards. “I'm fascinated with the difference between supposedly private and supposedly public and I try to engage the issue of what it means to live in a society that's seemingly shock-proof, yet still is compelled to exercise secrecy,” she explained of her work.”. Kruger wants to put out work that will say things no one is saying, but that everyone knows. Her art is very famous and is now held in collections at multiple museums such as The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Art in institute of Chicago, among others. Kruger’s work is famous for addressing social and consumer issues that are evident till this day.
Jenny Holzer was born in 1950 and is an American artist who uses neon words for her art. Holzer got her BFA at Ohio University and also achieved her MFA at Rhode Island School of design. While in school she put her art in flyers, anonymous work and installations. She’s well known for using LED screens and lights which lead to her Truisms series of work.
The website art.net states, “In 1977, Holzer began her first truly public series, Truisms, consisting of provocative one-line aphorisms printed in an italic bold font, confronting the viewer through the unsettling element of truth in each proclamation, such as ‘men are not monogamous by nature’ and ‘money creates taste.’”. Her work tells truth when it is not welcomed, and she is breaking through that. She addresses polemical issues through bright lights, and bold statements. The biography on art.net states, “Holzer is often compared to the American artist Barbara Kruger, who shares a similar affinity for prompting public debate through text. Because of the adaptable nature of Holzer’s art, her work has been adapted for commercial manufacturing, and can be seen on t-shirts, stickers, tote bags, paper weights, benches, and even sarcophagi. Holzer’s work has received much public attention and has been placed in public areas like Times Square in New York City, as well as projected on the facades of prominent buildings.”. Jenny Holzer can be similar to Barbara Kruger because they make similar type of art and try to convey different ideas.
Although Betty Tompkins is more of a visual artist, she does make art with words to trigger people. Tompkins was born in 1945, and lives in New York today. She creates art that is highly sexualized and provocative, but she does have art that uses words that are also sexualized. She believes women should use their sexuality to the extent that they want too. The article om the artreport.com, by Jenny Held named “Betty Tompkins Presents 1,000 Ways to Describe A Woman” shows us that Betty Tompkins had a show based on women. Held states,“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but what about a Woman? Last week, legendary feminist artist Betty Tompkins opened a show at FLAG Art Foundation entitled “WOMEN Words, Phrases, and Stories” which features 1,000 small scale paintings of words and phrases used to describe the female identity. The project began years ago when Tompkins circulated an email in which she asked for help “developing the vocabulary” about women. The response was surprising, with over 3,500 words and phrases submitted in seven different languages. The four most common words were Mother, Slut, Bitch, and Cunt.” (Held 1). Betty Tompkins wants to highlight that there is a disturbing manner around female gender.
Guerilla girls is a group of women who are activists. They wear masks and call out many injustices. They have had many members, and have participated in many street projects, posters, and displayed stickers across cities. The Guerilla Girls Website tells us, “We wear gorilla masks in public and use facts, humor and outrageous visuals to expose gender and ethnic bias as well as corruption in politics, art, film, and pop culture. We undermine the idea of a mainstream narrative by revealing the understory, the subtext, the overlooked, and the downright unfair. We believe in an intersectional feminism that fights discrimination and supports human rights for all people and all genders.”. They use art with words such as the “Do Women Have To Be Naked To Get Into The Met. Musuem?” piece to illustrate women’s oppression, along with the issue of the male gaze.
Tracey Emin was born in 1963 and is a member of the Young British Artists group. She works in film, neon embroidery, painting, installation, and sculpting. She uses her art to tell a story and she uses words to describe her feelings.
All these women artists have something in common. They use words to publicize problems or feelings they have as a woman. They use words and different pictures to show case injustices, and the way society really is.
Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Your body is a battleground), 1989
Jenny Holzer, Your Oldest Fears Are The Worst Ones, 1982
Betty Tompkins, Put a bag over her head, 2013
Guerilla Girls, Do Women Have To Be Naked To Get Into The Met. Museum? 1989
Tracey Emin, Terribly Wrong, 1997
Works Cited
“Barbara Kruger.” Artnet, www.artnet.com/artists/barbara-kruger/4.
“Betty Tompkins Presents 1,000 Different Ways to Describe a Woman.” Art Report, 26 Jan. 2016, artreport.com/betty-tompkins-presents-1000-different-ways-to-describe-a-woman/.
“Jenny Holzer.” Jenny Holzer Biography – Jenny Holzer on Artnet, www.artnet.com/artists/jenny-holzer/biography.
“OUR STORY.” Guerrilla Girls, www.guerrillagirls.com/our-story.
“Tracey Emin.” 460 Artworks, Bio & Shows on Artsy, www.artsy.net/artist/tracey-emin.
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