News

Women's art beyond feminism

An international exhibition at Barcelona's Fundació Blueproject examines the position of women as artists

A flashing neon on the wall of the Fundació Blueproject in Barcelona, by the South African artist Frances Goodman, says it all: it depicts the profile of a woman who is both swallowing and spitting something. The woman who swallows her words, or who expresses her desires, or who would like to spit in the face of the person in front of her, an entire metaphor or not, of female stereotype.

This is just one of the works from the exhibition Herselves which can be seen in the Project room of the foundation until February 26, and without intending to be a typical exhibition of women artists nor a feminist statement, it reflects on the position of women today as artists, as women and as a person expressing herself.

The exhibition includes works by 16 artists, all young, who apart from one, have never exhibited in Barcelona, and addresses issues related to politics, the body and sexuality, intimacy and language. “In all the works there is a duality between the individuality of the artist but which is influenced by the artist's condition as a woman,” says Aurélien Le Genissel member of the foundation's team which has organized Blueproject exposure. The English artist Eliza Bennett, for example, in her video installation A woman's work is never done, shows women embroidering, a painfully crippling process that alludes to the unseen work of women all over the world.

Turkish artist Joana Kohen represents the dictatorship of beauty in a photograph in which she appears faceless, with noses, eyes and mouths around her that supposedly she can choose from, while Ukrainian Dina Litovsky documents another tyranny, photographing girls changing into high heels in the street, before entering New York nightclubs.

Sign in. Sign in if you are already a verified reader. I want to become verified reader. To leave comments on the website you must be a verified reader.
Note: To leave comments on the website you must be a verified reader and accept the conditions of use.