Essay

ART 122, Section 210: Comme… Pages Module 2 Commentary: Identity!

Module 2 Commentary:

Identity

Identity: Audio Commentary

Before you begin your work for this module, take a few minutes

and consider the term "identity." How do you define "identity" as

a concept? What are the different ways in which you identify

yourself? Does how you identify yourself mostly focus on

physical characteristics (e.g., "I'm a short redhead with big feet.")

or do you call upon personality traits (e.g., "I am someone who

likes music, is kind to animals, and likes to spend time with my

friends")? Or, do you find that you use mostly external

associations (e.g., naming your political ideologies, cultural

associations, or professional memberships) to describe yourself?

These questions speak to the idea that a person's identity is

more complex and multilayered than it is simple and that an

individual's identity is shaped, influenced, and constructed from

both internally and externally derived sources. It also suggests

that identity can be perceived as a fluid concept that can shape

and reshape itself according to our particular experiences over

time.

In the assigned reading for this module (Chapter Two: Identity in

Themes of Contemporary Art) the authors note that Western art

history

is filled

with

examples of how artists have explored identity and that this is

easily seen in the traditions of portrait and self-portraiture.

Consider, for example, the work of Frida Kahlo, a 20th century

Mexican artist who died in 1954. Although not considered a

"contemporary" artist for the purposes of this course, it is

relevant to examine how Kahlo's work has greatly influenced

many contemporary artists. Over the course of her career, Kahlo

painted numerous images of herself because, as she is often

quoted as saying, she was the person she "knew best" and that by

painting herself, she painted "her own reality" (Artquotes ). In

looking at Kahlo's self-portraits we find an individual who was

fearless in examining her physical traits and realities. See, for

example, the works Self-Portrait with Monkey (1938) and

Broken Column (1944). We also find, however, that Kahlo's

self-portraits explored and commented on external factors that

influenced her identity, such as we can see when examining The

Two Fridas (1939). In this painting, done during a period of

separation from her husband Diego Rivera, Kahlo explores the

implications of her divided cultural self -- the woman who was

"never quite fully European nor fully Mexican Indian" (Burton

2005) and how this division in her cultural identity impacted the

relationship she had with her husband.

Like most of us, artists search to

discover and define their identity

through a variety of means and

experiences and they convey

these explorations through a

broad and diverse array of

expressions. During her career as

an artist (1925-54), Frida Kahlo

invested considerable energy in

examining her own likeness and in creating numerous and

remarkable self-images. Through our work in this module, we

will learn about artists today who continue to explore issues of

"identity" in the relatively familiar traditions of self-portraiture

(such as those we find in earlier artists such as Kahlo). Equally

and, perhaps, even more importantly, we will learn about

contemporary artists who are exploring identity in ways that are

startlingly new and unfamiliar and which introduce audiences to

entirely new ways of how one can define "identity."

There are two principal ways that we will explore the content for

this module. The first is by reading "Chapter Two: Identity" in the

course textbook. In this chapter, we will find that the authors

present a broad survey of examples of artists and works of art

that, in some manner, explore issues having to do with identity.

The authors begin by providing some historical context for how

the concept of identity has evolved in recent years. Notably, the

authors discuss how theories, terms, and definitions about

identity have come and gone, moving in and out of favor and

emphasis. It's important, as one proceeds through the chapter, to

reflect on the authors' claims about the fluidity of identity and

how it's perceived.

The second way we will explore this module's content is by

viewing a segment from PBS's acclaimed television series, Art

21: Art in the Twenty-First Century. The segment we will view

comes from the series' first season and, appropriately, is titled

"Identity" The segment can be viewed online at:

https://www.pbs.org/show/art-21/episodes/season/1/ . There

are four artists featured in this segment: Bruce Nauman , Kerry

James Marshall , Maya Lin , and Louise Bourgeois . From

Nauman's use of everyday objects to the austerity of Maya Lin's

sculptures to the deeply biographical references present in the

work of Louise Bourgeois and to Marshall's playful but charged

use of domestic interiors--we will find that each of these artists

creates art that is provocative, thoughtful, and distinct in its

examination of identity.

Special Focus: Do Ho Suh

Featured Link: The Lehmann Maupin Gallery presentation of Do

Ho Suh

Some of the most current, up-to-date information about

contemporary artists and art can be found by exploring the

websites of commercial art galleries. In most cases, these online

"galleries" showcase the work created by the different artists

represented by the gallery in fully illustrated and detailed ways.

The online address of an art gallery's website can, of course, be

easily located by a quick search in your favorite search engine.

Another way, however, is to utilize any number of online gallery

guides to browse the different gallery websites that are

available. An excellent example of an online gallery guide is be

found in the Gallery Guide section of the Art-Collecting.com

website. This set of guides provides

links to more than 4000 galleries

located in the U.S.

The link featured here is to the

Lehmann Maupin Gallery

presentation of Korean artist, Do Ho

Suh. The Lehmann Maupin Gallery is a

prominent New York gallery that

specializes, as the gallery's website

notes, in "international contemporary

artists working in painting, sculpture,

photography, video and new media from all over the world"

(Lehmann Maupin Gallery ). Artists represented by Lehmann

Maupin include Tracey Emin, Suling Wang, Gilbert and George,

Ashley Bickerton, and Do Ho Suh.

Do Ho Suh was born in Seoul, Korea in 1962. He is primarily

known for constructing site-specific installations that "question

the boundaries of identity "(Lehmann Maupin Gallery ). In his

biography, his work is described as exploring "the relation

between individuality, collectivity, and anonymity" (Lehmann

Maupin Gallery ). Visitors to the gallery presentation for Do Ho

Suh will find many images of his work plus links to information

about recent exhibitions of the artist's installation works and

full-text copies of reviews about his work.Artist Profiles:

Multimedia Resources

Artist Profiles: Nancy Burson and Shirin

Neshat

Following the discussion of each theme, the chapters in the

Themes of Contemporary Art textbook include extended profiles

of select artists whose work is discussed in the context of that

particular theme. The profiles present discussion of the different

ideas and approaches used by each artist. This section of each

course module represents an online extension to the profiles

provided in the textbook by presenting access to multimedia and

external links that are relevant to each artist and which provide

further illumination about his or her work.

Nancy Burson

Nancy Burson's renown in the field of digital art is best defined

by her pioneering work in morphing technology, which allows for

a virtual enhancement of the human face. One of her most

famous works, the Human Race Machine, permits people to view

themselves as members of another race. The Human Race

Machine is often used as a tool to initiate conversations about

racial diversity and has visited the Penn State Campus several

times as part of our annual Martin Luther King Day celebrations.

A brief demonstration of Burson's Human Race Machine (1999

to present)

In their profile of Burson, authors Robertson and McDaniel

(2009) describe the significance of Burson's work in developing

morphing technology:

Although today software that enables morphing and digital

recombination of photographs is readily available, Burson was a

pioneer when she first used computers to alter photographs,

collaborating with computer scientists and engineers as early as

197t to develop digital morphing technologies, generating

composite faces using those technologies. Her concepts for the

hypothetical composites were in line with then emerging

philosophical ideas about 'Otherness,' difference, and cultural

stereotyping, as well as simulation and virtual reality, and

presaged later artistic preoccupations with themes of DNA

recombination and genetic engineering. Robertson and

McDaniel, p. 60.

In more recent years, Burson's work has returned to more

traditional portraiture; however, her interests continue to focus

on issues of identity, cultural stereotyping, and human

difference.

Visit Seeing and Believing: The Art of Nancy Burson , an

exhibition of the artist's work that took place at the Grey Gallery

in New York in 2002.

Shirin Neshat

Last summer, Neshat participated in the exhibit, "She Who Tells a

Story: Women Photographers from Iran and the Arab World. "

The exhibit was sponsored by the National Museum of Women

Artists and featured works by numerous artists working in

photography and videography. The works provided individual

visions of the world as "witnessed" by each artist. The following

is Neshat's biography as presented by the National Museum of

Women Artists :

Neshat left Iran to study art in Los Angeles in 1974, just prior to

the Iran Islamic Revolution; she did not return until 1990. At that

time, Neshat began to photograph herself wearing the chador,

orveil. In 1983, Islamic law dictated the wearing of chador for

women. Much of Neshat’s work examines the physical,

emotional, and cultural implications of veiled women in Iran.

Her work, which has never been shown in Iran, essentially

declares the female presence in a male dominated culture. In her

films and photographs, the female gaze becomes a powerful and

dangerous instrument for communication.

Her first series of photographs, Woman of Allah, 1993–97,

combines images of women with written words taken from

religious texts. Neshat further explored cultural taboos through

video and video installations.

In 1997, she won the 48th Venice Biennial prize for her film

Turbulent, which contrasts a man singing in front of an all-male

audience, with a woman singing to an empty concert hall. Her

work has been shown throughout Europe and the United

States. She currently lives in New York and frequently travels to

Iran, though the majority of her work is filmed in Morocco,

Turkey, and the United States.

In the videos below, Shirin Neshat speaks about being an artist in

exile and her recent exhibition, Women Without Men.

Commentary Sources

1. Artquotes. "Frida Kahlo." URL:

http://www.artquotes.net/masters/frida-kahlo/kahlo-

quotes.htm . Accessed: 21 February 2017.

2. Burton, J. 2005. "Frida Kahlo: Room Guide ." Written for

the Tate Modern. Accessed: 21 February 2017.

3. Robertson, J & C. McDaniel. 2009. Themes of Contemporary

Art. 2nd. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Human Race Machine (UMTV)

Shirin Neshat Art in exile

Women Without Men Discussion

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