A basic overview of some key ideas about the body in contemporary art.

1. KVB127 Visual Art Open Studio 2
Week 3: The Body

2. Robertson, J., & McDaniel, C. (2017). Themes of contemporary art:
Visual art after 1980 (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.
The Body
Beauty and Grotesque
Performance
Sexualised - The Gaze: (Lacan and Mulvey)
Posthuman

3. The Body
• Gender
• Class
• Race
• Culture
• Sexual orientation
• Generation/age
• Language
• Religion
• Political
• Ethics/Morality
• Social position
• Marital status
• Geography/country
• Suburb-City-State-Nation-Regio
AND..
• ..let’s remember that identifying as an artist
brings with it a complex
history/protocols/tropes…Adrian PIPER | Catalysis III, IV 1970

4. Antony GORMLEY (British b. 1950)
Still Standing 2011
Intervention, Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg

5. Venus of Willendorf; c. 28,000 BP
(the Gravettian period); limestone with ochre
coloring; Naturhistorisches Museum (Vienna,
Austria)
Tassel Gwion Gwion Figures; c.17,500 -5000 BP
Drysdale National Park, Photo: BAC & Mark Jones

6. Wangechi MUTU
(Kenyan-American, b.1972)
Lizard Love, 2010
Installation view, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2013

7. Sarah LUCAS
Honey Pie
Exhibition view, Sadie Coles HQ, London, 2020
Jenny SAVILLE
Fulcrum, 1998–99
oil on canvas, 2.6×4.8 m

8. REBECCA HORN
(German b.1944)
left: Arm Extensions, 1970
right: Finger Gloves, 1972

9. Hannah BRONTE
(Wakka Wakka/Yaegal b. 1991)
Heala, 2018
Mixed media installation with video

10. Ah XIAN
(Chinese-Australian, b. 1960)
China China - Bust, 2002 and Serenity: Self portrait, Hamilton Gallery, Vic, 2016

11. James LUNA
(Payómkawichum, Ipi, and Mexican-American, 1950-2018)
The Artifact Piece, 1987
live performance

12. Hannah WILKE
(American 1940-1993)
Laundry Lint, C.O.’s 1974 Lint, various colors
Untitled from S.O.S. Starification Object Series, 1974 (17.1 x 11.4 cm)

13. Cheryl DONEGAN
(American b.1962)
Head 1993
Video | 3:00 | loop

14. MARINA ABRAMOVIC
(Yugoslavian b.1946)
Expanding in Space 1977

15. Ann HAMILTON
(American b.1956)
Event of a Thread 2012

16. Levi van VELUW
(Dutch, b.1985)
Family
3.54 min | loop | full HD

17. Megan ARCHER
(New Zealand, b.1988)
Digital Bodies, 2018
Oil on canvas | c.100x100cm
Moon RIBAS (Spanish b 1985)
and Neil HARBISSON (British-Irish b.1984)

18. Week 3 Reflection
Prepare for class by reviewing the resources in the
Week 3 folder and considering the following questions:
•What vision of the body is being proposed by each
work?
•How is the body being used as a point of reference?
•Are essentialist notions of bodily identity being
challenged or fostered by the work?
Make notes in your blog and bring your observations
and questions to class.Sarah LUCAS
Honey Pie
Exhibition view, Sadie Coles HQ, London,
2020

19. 2.3 BODYWORK (Homework Task)
Produce a work (or works) derived from a
bodily action. The works should not depict
your body, but rather embody its physical
qualities of movement, proportion,
materiality, form.
Feedback Session: Week 5 Tutorial
Hannah BRONTE
(Wakka Wakka/Yaegal b. 1991)
Heala, 2018
Mixed media installation with video

20. 2.2 BACKGROUNDING (Homework Task)
Consider your family and/or cultural
background. What kind of processes do you
connect with this background (eg. cultural
practices, traditions, habits, routines, rituals,
mannerisms, language, etc) Identify a single
PROCESS from your background and use this
as the basis of an artwork (4hrs)
Feedback Session: Week 3 Tutorial
Kara WALKER
Fons Americanus, 2019
Turbine Hall Commission, Tate Modern, UK,