Odalisque Now - Thesis Book
Odalisque Now
A study of the historic depiction of women in fine art and their representation today: Photography, book design, archive research, exhibition design.
Odalisque Now
BFA Thesis Exhibition | May 4-11, 2018 | 808 Gallery Boston University
Recently, while speaking with a faculty member, he posed the question to me: "Is objectification even a thing anymore?" Of course objectification still exists, but how has it changed? If you took yesterday's art and put it in the context of today, you would notice the visible shift in what is socially acceptable and what is not. Yes, we can find beauty in the works of Giambologna and Ingres, but how can this beauty be defined? Is it in the brush work, the colors, or is it in the body of the subject? The nature of a portrait is to capture the essence of the figure posing for the artist. So in itself isn't the portrait a mode of objectifying the model sitting in front of you? And in that sense is objectification wrong? Or is it a form of expression?
As a young female artist I found myself facing all of these questions and wondering if there are any concrete answers. The anonymous feminist artist group known as Guerrilla Girls found that "Less than 5% of artists in the Modern Arts sections are female, but 85% of the nudes are female." This quote sparks another question: is there a gender clause? As a female artist is my work less likely to be seen as objectifying while the same work, if done by a man, would be?
My work is broken into two phases, aiming to feature the female body without objectifying it. The first phase works to portray the female spirit. I asked these models to move and dance for me, expressing whatever energy they felt. The second phase portrays the female body. They wear pieces that work to reveal or conceal their bodies at different times, featuring historically important female nudes. These models are frontal, confronting and unapologetic. These pieces, photographs, and findings make up Odalisque Now-my exploration into finding if there is a way to portray the female body without any objectifying it.
