21st Annual Student Research Conference
1970s American Women Artists: Reclaiming The Depiction of Women in Art
Theresa M. Skinner
Dr. Sara Orel, Dr. Julia DeLancey, and Dr. Monica Barron, Faculty Mentors
Second wave feminism had a great influence on the art of many women during the 1970s in America. Artists Cindy Sherman, Lynda Benglis, Joan Semmel, Carolee Schneemann, and Judy Chicago used media such as photography, performance art and installations to explore the roles women have played throughout history. They also addressed the way the male gaze has been the dominant determinate of the visual perception of women. Some of these artists chose to show women (including themselves) in the nude whereas others chose to comment on the way women have been inaccurately portrayed in art as well as the roles they have been expected to play in life. The art of these women, both the artists who claimed the title of feminist and those who did not, deconstructed the image of the woman and forced scholars to question the overall structure of art history and its exclusion of women.
Keywords: feminism, art, female nude, male gaze
Topic(s):Art History
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 1-2
Location: OP 2210
Time: 8:30