The Body

For centuries, there has been a standard for beauty. This standard varies on specific time periods and cultures. An individual would have to live in complete isolation to not be effected by or aware of the standard of beauty to which the human body is held. Greek sculpture depicted the body to be “perfect.” The human form was completely whole with proportions that were the most desirable. The Greeks thought that “the gods took human form” (Robertson and McDaniel, 84). The image of man was stylized. In present day America, one cannot avoid the standards. Advertisements, movies, and other forms of pop media set the standard for what a beautiful person should look like (Robertson and McDaniel, 86). The round pegs that do not fit into the square hole are made to feel inadequate and less “desirable.” Magazine covers are covered in headlines about how to get slim quickly or how to give yourself a complete makeover. Natural beauty is overlooked.
The Body in art is very diverse. In Maureen Connor’s sculpture, Thinner Than You, there is no actual body in the dress, but the stretched dress is one that would fit an impossibly thin body (Robertson and McDaniel, 76). The piece is not meant to be beautiful; the artist did not create it for it to be looked upon as something beautiful, it is a statement. Is the need to be that thin really a competition? The body in art can be used to express what the artist feels is lacking, the body is not shown “whole.” In James Croak’s Descentered Skin, the human body is an empty shell. There is a void. Something is missing from this person’s life (Robertson and McDaniel, 75). The use of the nude human figure in art has also been seen as pornographic. The “pillars of society” such as politicians and religious groups have been known to reduce the nude figure to porn. It would be the people who have never had any previous knowledge of what Art is or how to read deeper into an image. They negatively judged images that they did not understand. The images of “porn and prostitution” were not reflected on, instead they were things that would degrade women and would have cause sexual harassment and rape (Vance). For those who had forced art shows to be closed because of questionable pieces or ideas, which art was obviously not for them.

The Absent Body

Felix Gonzalez-Torres's work depicts the body in ways that differ greatly from traditional academic artists. He tends to focus on the absent body and mortality of the physical body. Gonzalez-Torres supported the belief that "conditions that remind us of mortality--aging, disability, pain, illness, and death--must not be hidden" (McDaniel and Robertson 94). His photo, Projects 34, depicts his disheveled bed with imprints of the head and body still in the sheets and pillows. It is obvious that two bodies recently slept in this bed. Gonzalez-Torres created the piece upon the loss of his long time lover, Ross, to AIDS. The photograph not only emphasizes death of the physical body but also its longevity. If untouched, the pillows, sheets, and mattress will remain forever in the shape Ross left them. Gonzalez-Torres is able to effectively represent the head and torso without showing the actual bodies (Umland).



Gonzalez-Torres was also concerned with the ever-changing body. He thought that "we need to perceive the body in its raw physicality and in all its changing shapes and states" (McDaniel and Robertson 94). His piece, Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.), deals again with the loss of the body and its ability to change. In Minimalist fashion, he uses metallic colored candies to serve as the body of his lost lover Ross. He collected enough candy to equal the weight of Ross before he was diagnosed with AIDS. He piled them in the corner of a room to represent Ross in his healthy state. Viewers were encouraged to take a piece of candy from the installation as a representation of his decaying body due to the disease. This way, the audience is able to change the piece and become an active participant (Arnason and Mansfield 761). In my opinion, Gonzalez-Torres's ability to represent the body in these works without ever showing a body part makes him one of the most innovative "figurative" artists in recent years.

Arnason, H.H., and Elizabeth C. Mansfield. History of Modern Art. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2010. 761. Print.

McDaniel, Craig, and Jean Robertson. Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art after 1980. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2010. 94. Print.

Umland, Anne. "Felix Gonzalez-Torres." Creative Time, Inc.. 1992. The Modern Museum of Art, Web. 27 Jan 2010. http://www.creativetime.org/programs/archive/2000/Torres/torres/umland.html.

Art vs. Politics

Since the 1950's, the government has questioned the standards of public taste for art. The National Endowment for the Arts, or NEA, has funded exhibitions for artwork pertaining to gays, AIDS, feminism, ideas of representation, and censorship. The government refers to these particular topics of art as "trash" (Kocur 126). While threatening to take away or cut back on funding for the NEA. Who is to decide what is morally right for the public to see and relate back to the question of what is art? Who has the right to censor a piece of art or is it stated under the First Amendment?

Many artist create art that represents sexuality for various reasons. As quoted by Robertson and McDaniels, " The contemporary period in the West includes many examples of figurative art in which bodies are explicitly sexualized" (87). One example is Judy Chicago with her exhibition of Womenhouse in Los Angeles, California. In Chapter 3, the author states, "the women created installations that exuberantly displayed tampons, underwear, and other items that referred directly to biological functions of female bodies, including menstraution and child birth" (Robertson, and McDaniels 79). If Chicago could exhibit these pieces, how come the government did not interfere like they did with other artists of the time? Should it matter whether the NEA funds them or not? Or is the government only tyring to censor what they fund?

Kocur, Zoya and Simon Leung. "Theory in Contemporary Art since 1985".
Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2005. 126. Print.

Robertson, Jean, and Craig McDaniel. "Themes of Contemporary Art Visual After 1980".
2nd. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2010. 79. Print.

Robertson, Jean, and Craig McDaniel. "Themes of Contemporary Art Visual After 1980".
2nd. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2010. 87. Print.

The Body

The figure is an essential outlet for the exploration of emotion and identity within art. Throughout art history the figure has been reinterpreted in several areas, as well as falling into the pitfalls of idealization (84). According to Robertson and McDaniel "Cultural ideals dominate the representation of bodies in art even though few real bodies resemble the images." This foundation of idealized beauty has been a launching point for many modern artists to re investigate the standardized notions of human perfection. Nancy Davidson approaches the contradiction of beauty with giant weather balloons outfitted suggestively with clothing and accessories normally reserved for accentuating "idealized" bodies (86). Feminism has played a large role in redefining the ideas held about women's bodies, whether it be ideas of sexual desire or reproduction. Often explicit, artists like Marlene Dumas and Annie Sprinkler use shocking images or performance art to force the viewer to demolish mentally embedded notions of women (89).

Part of the problem with modern ideas of body image can be linked to the media's perpetuation of fashionable body types. "For example," writes Robertson and McDaniel, "...although contemporary Americans make a fetish of the slim female body and well toned male body, in the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe, an ample body was most admired as evidence of a person's wealth and power.(86)" Modern art has made an effort to deviate from only using fashionably slim models and includes a variety of body types. (86) On the other hand, Vanessa Beecroft successfully created a commentary of modern body image by using nude and partially clothed models with the same body type, resulting in a homogenized crowd of women with little variation in individuality(87). Art such as this has helped open the debate on what can be describe as ideal and beautiful in regards to the human figure, which may one day spread into the popular conscience.

McDaniel, Craig and Jean Robertson. Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art after 1980. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2010. 84-89.

The Body; The Body Beautiful

In every society there is a cultural perspective of attractiveness. Women are often portrayed in art as a response to societal standards of beauty. Today's media has a strong influence on body image that strongly affects perceptions of femininity. Thin, fit women are highlighted as standards of beauty. However, this presents only one perception. Some artists use their work to counter these images with other views of beauty and sexuality outside the social norm (Robertson and McDaniel 86). Many artists view their works as commentaries on social perceptions and feel that their works offer satirical parodies on standards of beauty.

One such artist is Nancy Davidson who uses weather balloons to create voluminous shapes that celebrate women with larger proportions than standard perceptions of beauty (Robertson and McDaniel 86). She uses her medium to celebrate raw sexuality and the power that women have in the bedroom. Davidson believes this combines humor with feminism. While her art is in direct contrast to current standards, it offers a liberating view of female sexuality without the social constraints of one dimensional beauty.

The Body

Carol S. Vance points out a bias between art forms in Feminist Fundamentalism: Women Against Images. With the University of Michigan and the NEA incidents as examples, she notes “newer art forms, here photography and video, which have shorter histories, less prestige and legitimacy, and less cultural protection than . . . painting or sculpture” seem to be more easily deemed “pornographic” or “obscene art” (135). The “widespread circulation” of these media forms makes them more “vulnerable” to accusations of vulgarity. Moreover, it should be noted that many works from the traditional canon of art history are blatantly pornographic and many others would seem so if not for explanations from the artist -- drawing a distinct line between “traditional forms of art” and pornography is a difficult task.

Two examples of this are the many paintings and sculptures devoted to the myth of “Leda and the Swan” and Hiram Powers’ “Greek Slave.” The former, painted by accepted masters such as Michelangelo and Leonardo da, Vinci, depicts the rape of Leda by the god Zeus in the guise of a swan. Defenders might say that the works participate in a long tradition of mythology and Western history, not to mention the painters’ obvious skills in their field. However, the mere existence of these works suggests that the line between traditional art and pornography lies as much in the interpretation as in the image itself. Hiram Powers’ “Greek Slave” is a good example of how the story behind a piece or its interpretation can “make” a seemingly pornographic image art, even Christian art. The sculpted image is a naked woman, a slave, with her hands bound, leaning on a tree stump. If the image were a photograph or video, it could easily be interpreted as pornography. The actual piece can be interpreted likewise. However, Powers and a Reverend from the era, Orville Dewey, contest that the statue is the opposite of pornography and actually a moral piece. Dewey claims, “every sympathy of the beholder is enlisted for the preservation of her sanctity; every feeling of the beholder is ready to execrate and curse the wretch that could buy such a creature!” It seems that the works removed from the University of Michigan exhibit were never given a chance to be read for an underlying moral story, or satire, or even on formalist grounds concerning cinema and photography.

Vance, Carol S. “Feminist Fundamentalism: Women Against Images.” Theory in Contemporary Art since 1985. Ed. Zoya Kocur and Simon Leung. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2005. 132 –140.

Dewey, Orville. “Powers’ Statues.” The Union Magazine. October 1847. Uncle Tom’s Cabin and American Culture. Stephen Railton and the University of Virginia. http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/sentimnt/snar23at.html

Feminists as Fundamentalists

Carol Vance’s essay “Feminist Fundamentalism: Women against Images” describes an incident at the University of Michigan Law School in which art works deemed “offensive” were taken out of an exhibit. The exhibit was part of a conference, “Prostitution: from Academia to Activism,” and was taken down by law students and a group of Antipornography Feminists who claimed the work made people feel “uncomfortable”(Kocur 132). The feminist group claimed that the exhibit, consisting mainly of videos about prostitution, was pornographic in nature and thus “cause[ing] enormous harm, from promoting misogynist ideas and male dominance to directly inspiring rape” (135). The incident caused some controversy as it was seen by some as a form of censorship and eventually an agreement was made to allow the reinstallation of the exhibit.
Vance points out that “antipornography feminists are now hurling the term ‘pornography’ at art videos which dissent from their favored position on prostitution—that prostitution victimizes women and that women can never freely choose to participate in that work” (135). This group of feminists seems to be vigilantes for causes that should be personal choice. By removing artworks they are ignoring the fact that viewing an art exhibit and being a prostitute, at least in the cases of the exhibit, are personal choices not mandates. Also, many female artists are now creating art works that may be seen as explicit but come from places of powerful female sexuality. It seems contradictory that a group of “feminist” are criticizing and censoring works by female artist about female sexuality.

The Body

As content, human figures have served to express deeply cherished culture values, including beliefs about religion, politics, and personal and social identity ( Robertson and McDaniel 78). In other words, our body is a representation of our inner selves. Artists throughout the years have used the body to send messages to society. Maureen Conner's creation Thinner Than You is a good example of the pressure women feel about their bodies in today's society. Our appearance as become extremely important to us and women will go to great lengths to reach that look of perfection. But what is perfection? Who sets this bar? Should we blame society for the pressure or should we blame ourselves for being drawn into it? Has the body become such an ideal image that we have forgotten about our essence, our soul, our mind? Conner's empty dress also could be interpreted as an instance of the postmodern "empty vessel," a body drained of the illusion of the soul ( Robertson and McDaniel 76). Horace Miner wrote an article, "Body Ritual among the Nacirema" MIner claims, in this article, that the Nacirema's belief system is based on the fact that the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease and that man's only hope is though ritual and ceremony. Miller also says that the Nacirema are devoted to shines and that everyone's household has one. The holy-mouth man, which is another main figure in this culture, Miller explains, the holy-mouth man opens the client's mouth and in using certain tools enlarges any holes which decay has created and than uses magical materials to put into the holes. This article, in case you have not guess, is really about American culture, Nacirema is actually American spelled backwards. The shines are bathrooms; everyone has one and is devoted to it, sound familiar? And the holy-mouth man is a dentist. He uses magical materials to fill in decay. This was a great article! It was a good and clever example of describing and using our own standards against us. This article, along with the Maureen Conner's creation Thinner Than You, are good representations of the extremes we will put our bodies though to maintian or create perfection. Is it worth it? Have we gone too far? What kind of examples are we setting for the future? Just think what we could do if we, as a whole, spent that kind of time developing our minds instead on our appearance.

MINER, HORACE. "BODY RITUAL AMONG NACIREMA."

AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOLGICAL ASSOCIATION. 58.3 (1956):

3. Print

Robertson Jean and McDaniel Craig. Themes of Contemporary Art:

Visual Art After 1980.

2nd ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc. 2010. 76,78.

Print.

The Body: Jenny Saville and Orlan

The human body has been an object of study for many centuries both in and outside of the art world. The body has long been cause for curiosity and religious debate. Many cultures believe that it is our outer shell, or our body, in which our soul dwells in. Some cultures use the body as a status symbol. The Greeks’ art work depicted the ideal body figures. They showed the figures young and healthy, without flaw. The Greeks believed that is was these humans, the ones without flaw that were designed in the image of the gods. This belief can still be seen in main stream media today. While the body styles have changed, the idea that these ideal figures are in the "image of the gods" is still prevalent. Jenny Saville and Orlan are two feminist artists who have faced the idea of the ideal image within their work.

A painter, Jenny Saville is known for her nude portrayal of the female figure. Using foreshortening and other methods, Saville manipulates the figure to appear larger, accentuating certain aspects of the figure. Having spent time shadowing a plastic surgeon, taking photographs and observing his surgeries, Saville's work shows her understanding of the manipulations possible to the human flesh. She uses the figure's body like one would use paint, a necessary requirement for the piece (Elton John). By doing this, the figure's body becomes one with the canvas. It has become the manipulated article within the piece much like a canvas is within a painting, the two are now singular. With her directing each stroke of the paintbrush, Saville brings up the argument that "battles over bodies generally boil down to the question: Who should be in control? Who is in charge of how we see a body, when we see it, and what it means to us when we see it?" (McDaniel 80). With each contortion, Saville brings up the question of the ideal body, that what we are looking at is not what is perfect, so what are we looking at and why? By answering these questions, Saville hopes that the viewer will in time learn to appreciate the value of sight to the individual viewer. That not everything is meant to be ideal, created in the image of the gods, but yet that with curves and the grandiosity that can come with flesh, there can be beauty.

Orlan, a French artist, is known for her art performance pieces that have to do with her series of plastic surgeries. Orlan had her surgeries videotaped and shown in various galleries. Like Saville, Orlan wanted to show the manipulation of the body. How the flesh could be contorted and sculpted in various ways. One of her goals was to show the similarities between plastic surgery and sculpting. Unlike Saville, she was not making a stand on the body image restraints that society places on women. For Orlan, these series of performance pieces were about identity and embracing the idea of constant change for oneself. Having filmed her surgeries she allowed others to watch her body and, in a sense, her identity change. It has been said that "because women's sexual side had been repressed and unacknowledged for so long, artists at the outset used a sort of shock therapy to claim female sexuality as a theme" (McDaniel 79). While Orlan's work does not necessary represent the sexual restraints that have been placed on women, she does however express her views on human identity in a way that had not been expressed before. It was this shock therapy that got both Orlan's and Saville's work acknowledge in the first hand, both for their almost grotesque portrayal of the female body but also for their unique way in which they both interpret the human body.

"Brain-Juice Biography of Jenny Saville." Brain-Juice.com, Inc. Web. 26 Jan. 2010. http://www.brain-juice.com/cgi-bin/show_bio.cgi?p_id=77.

Elton John "Jenny Saville: whether they love her work, hate her work, or simply don't know what to make of it, one thing everyone seems to be in agreement on is that this painter is one of the most daring of our time. Elton John gets the story". Interview. FindArticles.com. 26 Jan, 2010. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1285/is_9_33/ai_108050851/

"Jenny Saville - Gagosian Gallery." Current Exhibitions - Gagosian Gallery. Web. 27 Jan. 2010. http://www.gagosian.com/artists/jenny-saville/.

"Jenny Saville -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 27 Jan. 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Saville.

McDaniel, Craig, and Jean Robertson. Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art after 1980. 2nd ed. Oxford UP, 2010. Print.

"Orlan -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 26 Jan. 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlan.

"Orlan's art of sex and surgery Art and design guardian.co.uk." Latest news, comment and reviews from the Guardian. Web. 27 Jan. 2010. .

Identity

Cindy Sherman and Kehinde Wiley's art work are prime examples of the notion of constructed identities. Specifically, Sherman's Historical Portraits series and Wiley's Prince Tommaso Francesco of Savoy-Carignano are similar in regard to their focus on constructed identity and use of historical subjects. Wiley suggests that "all identities are constructed, even supposedly 'normal' mainstream identities; no identity is natural and essential" (McDaniel and Robertson 53). Wiley's 2006 portrait of a black male in contemporary dress regally posed on an Italian horse is as "normal" as Van Dyck's similar painting of Thomas Francis in 1634 (Wikipedia). Cindy Sherman "reinforces the idea that identity is artificially constructed and transformable" (McDaniel and Roberston 55). Her photographs in the Historical Portraits series challenge the notion of natural identities, as Sherman poses in elaborate costumes and settings resembling historical portraits. She transcends preconceived gender identities by posing as famous men and women. Like Wiley's male figures, each time Sherman poses she "constructs" a new identity.

Both Sherman and Wiley's pieces support the same theory of constructed identities, but the mode in which they portray their views differs greatly. Wiley focuses mainly on challenging "normal" identities by showing that they are all constructed. If all identities are constructed, then Wiley believes he can create new ones (McDaniel and Robertson 53). He does this in one piece by painting Ice-T sitting on a seventeenth-century throne. The painting is far from the norm, as he merges the past and present in an unlikely juxtaposition (Recognize). He is consistent in using modern-day black males as the subject and painting as his medium (McDaniel and Robertson 53). However, Sherman dresses in the appropriate costumes and settings for the time period she plans to portray, and she does not compare the past and the present. Her manifestation of the notion of constructed identities comes from her own ever changing identity. She proves that one cannot label her as a certain sex or historical figure, because she is constantly becoming someone new. Sherman demonstrates that identities are never rigid and fixed. She also shows that identites are often times fake identities. Just becuase she is dressed as a male in historical attire does not make her a historical man. Lastly, Sherman prefers photgraphy to painting, and she is the subject of most of her photos (McDaniel and Robertson 55). Though both artists focus on the concept of constructed identities, they portray it in completely different ways.

McDaniel, Craig and Jean Robertson. Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art after 1980. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2010. 53-55.

"Recognize! Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture." Smithsonian, National Portraiture Gallery. Web. 20 Jan 2010. <www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/recognize/paintings.html>.

Wikipedia Contributors. "Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignan." Wikipedia. 15 Jan 2010. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Web. 20 Jan 2010. <www.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thomas_Francis,_Price_of_Carignan&oldid=338010657>.

Individual Art vs. Racial Art

The issues of race that arise for current African American artists are complex and seem to be rather frustrating for certain artists. While many artists such as Kehinde Wiley and Lyle Ashton Harris create art that explores racial, sexual, and or gender controversies (Robertson, McDaniel 46, 53), many artists have moved away from expressing their ideas about their own identity through their artwork. As Robertson and McDaniel write, “Many [post identity artists] express little interest in being spokespersons for racial, ethnic, or gender identity and prefer to focus on their individual projects” (57). Lyle Ashton Harris expresses struggles with controversy over identity in works like “Unique Polaroid” from his 2003 series, Memoirs of Hadrian (Robertson, McDaniel 46, 47). According to Robertson and McDaniel, “Harris, who is black, queer, and male, uses costume, make up, gesture, and pose to deconstruct and mock simple binary codes: male versus female; homosexual versus heterosexual; black versus white” (46). Kehinde Wiley investigates similar ideas through appropriation (Robertson, McDaniel 53). By placing young black men in various historical portraiture settings, he explores ideas about masculinity and race (Robertson, McDaniel 53). As stated by Robertson and McDaniel, “Wiley’s insertions of black men into the world of aristocratic portraiture serve to unmask the Eurocentrism and class privilege that created a visual history of the white, wealthy, and powerful and excluded people of color” (53). Wiley investigates traditions of the hierarchy of portraiture based on race and class. Though artists like Harris and Wiley bring up racial, sexual, and gender issues in need of discussion, it is a misconception that every black artist is interested in dealing with issues concerning their personal identity.

This topic is interesting to discuss because a question is brought up about how detrimental or problematic the stereotypes in the art world are for African American artists who want to focus on their artwork from an aesthetic standpoint rather than a racially motivated point of view. When discussing curator Thelma Golden’s thoughts on the subject of “post-black” artists Robertson and McDaniel write, “Golden explained that post-black artists “emerged empowered” by the multicultural debates and identity politics of the previous decade: as a result, they have the confidence to develop in individual directions” (57). Artists like Harris and Wiley were two artists of many who set the stage for post identity artists to move beyond racial and other identity-related issues. However, there seem to still exist many collectors and gallery owners who want to showcase the work of black artists as “black art” rather than “art”. Many seem to be interested in the biography of the artist or the concept of “folk art” rather than aesthetic value. This mode of thinking about the work of African Americans is offensive to artists who end up being tied to and questioned about their racial background instead of whatever message (if there is a specific message) they want to express through their work. The work of artists focusing on racial and other issues of identity has an important place in the art world, but it is racially bias to assume that all black artists are only interested in communicating racial issues.

Blog 1: Identity

The group “The Guerilla Girls” can be referred to as an activist art group. Made up of radical feminist artists, the women have been responding to the nepotism shown towards the white males within the art society since 1985. To broadcast their beliefs, the Guerilla Girls used art. Seeing that the Met had more nude female art works than actual female artists, the Guerilla Girls put up the above poster all over New York City and ”the implication, of course, is that women artists are underrepresented, while the sexualized female form, signified as models in male artists’ work, remains ubiquitous in the display of the art historical record” (McDaniel 44).After attacking the galleries and museums in New York, the Girls set their sights on exposing the issues in Hollywood. By taking on the film industry, the Guerilla Girls broadened their following and therefore increased their popularity. Using humor, the Guerilla Girls want to change the negative response that people have with the ideas behind feminism. They say such things like “we’re feminist masked avengers in the tradition of anonymous do-gooders like Robin Hood, Wonder Woman and Batman” (Guerillagirls).

The idea that identity could be or that it is communal is relatively new. Roland Barthes and other great minds began to grow “skeptical of the emphasis on singular identity and uniqueness and instead focuses on how people are powerfully influenced by forces outside themselves” (McDaniel 42). Within this particular group, the Guerilla Girls are not an individual, but a singular mass. Wearing gorilla masks, the members’ faces are never seen. They never divulge their real names; instead they only go by the names of famous dead female artists. By never revealing their true identity they keep their identity as part of the group, as communal or relational to the group instead of separate or isolated to themselves. By acting in unison, their identity becomes almost whole. Like a complete acting body, the group works together to complete their tasks. The use the terms “we” in their writings, always referring to the fact that there are more than one behind their actions, however never denoting how many are responsible, if there is a hierarchy, and especially they stress the force of numbers. So by never giving names or faces, the organization gives off the air of mystery, however it still allows for its members to lose their identity into it. However, without our own community it would be hard to identify ourselves…

GUERRILLAGIRLS: Fighting discrimination with facts, humor and fake fur. Web. 19 Jan. 2010.
http://www.guerrillagirls.com/.

McDaniel, Craig, and Jean Robertson. Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art after 1980. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.