Feminism and the male gaze:
Paul Gauguin is an artist from 1800s who has a history that is rife with exploitation and misogyny and was known to take multiple teenage girls as wives. This can be seen in his work, his piece 'Seed of the Areoi' which depicts a Tahitian woman sitting naked in front of a landscape scene, this woman is the focal point of the painting and there is something perverted and voyeuristic about how she is in her most vulnerable state for all to see. Men painting nudes of women have an incredibly misogynistic and exploitative history, often getting prostitutes and women who most likely didn't have the option to say no to sit for them. This is shown in his work as the sitter is allegedly his mistress, a woman who was most likely exploited and taken advantage of by him. When I observe and analyse his techniques I can see he uses thick brush strokes and bold colour, there is a stark contrast in colour, brightness and tone when looking at the bright yellow flowers compared to the grey mountains in the background, and he has also included depth and perspective which help to draw the viewer in and expands the painting and scene into the distance. When analysing this work and knowing the history and context behind Paul Gauguin art I begin to find a few contradictory elements, such as the natural and wild setting invoking a feeling of freedom being in direct contrast to the sitter most likely being forced to sit and pose naked. The beautiful techniques used to create this work become irrelevant when you know about the people and women exploited to make it.
Margaret Harrison is a feminist artist from Britain born in 1940 and uses a variety of media and subject matter. Her work 'Homeworkers' is a commentary on the working conditions, the manipulation of female workers and the suppression of the workers movement. I believe that this is a political piece, when viewing it from a distance it looks almost like a placard with bold colour and an abundance of text as well as pieces of textile strung across the canvas that immediately catches the eye and draws your attention. To me, the composition of the piece is pleasing to the eye as everything seems to be an equal distance apart from each other and the majority of the text is horizontal. Margaret Harrison also includes images and text of milestones when it comes to workers rights such as the '1965 Redundancy payments act' and the '1974 trade unions and labour relations act', however this is in direct contrast to the text above which is a series of words such as exploitation and discrimination, I believe that the placing and composition of this work is powerful and moving as it shows how far workers rights have progressed but the proximity to impactful words such as exploitation is a reminder of the problems that we still face and the work and progress that we still have to make. the hand prints lining the top of the work add a human element to the piece and help the viewer to connect to the work and the people that the work is about. Overall, I enjoyed this piece of work, it it powerful, thought provoking and makes a statement on the society of the time but can still be applied to ours today.
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