The purpose of the thesis is to reflect upon the female nude imagery in the counterculture publication London Oz 1967 - 1968, with the retrospective understanding that the alienation involved had a profoundly detrimental effect on my art practice at the time. My aim is to interrogate the past with a view to informing creatively my present work. My thesis is a body of paintings accompanied by an exegesis and a catalogue, from the shed to the dining room and back, 2002, as a work in progress of the MVA. / Thesis (MVisualArts)--University of South Australia, 2005.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A spectacle denotes an impressive or deplorable sight, and necessarily involves the power and politics of viewing. The female body exists as a sexualised object of these processes of looking within Western culture, not only in high art, but also in discourses such as medicine and science. In both art and medicine the female body has been treated as a passive object to be studied, analysed and classified. Power relations and patriarchal ideologies have played a great part in the resulting objectifying representations, firmly locating images of the female body within the realm of the spectacle. Bodily perceptions, in terms of the female body, have changed much, particularly through the reinterpretation of sexuality through feminist theory. Modem culture and technology have opened up many new possibilities for the redefinition and understanding of the body. Modem bodies seem to be under as much close surveillance and scrutiny as their nineteenth century counterparts. This study explores these ideas through a wide range of examples from painting, photography and performance art, and non-art objects such as anatomical objects and medical illustrations. Central to the construction of the body as spectacle, are issues of looking and viewing. Chapter 1 examines ideas around the gaze; the politics and processes of vision, objectification and fetishisation are explored in relation to the functioning of the medical and aesthetic gaze. The concept of spectacle is also elaborated upon in terms of ideas around the nineteenth century carnival and freak show, and in terms of societal taboos and transgression. Aspects of aesthetic and medical discourse focus on the display and scrutiny of the female body. Chapter 2 examines the way in which these discourses attempted to reveal the female body by rendering it in highly visual terms. The dominant ideologies informing both discourses played an instrumental role and resulted in representations that defined the female body in normative standards and ideals of beauty and health. Pornography is considered as a modem discourse in which the female body is defined and displayed as an object of scrutiny. Feminist theory challenged exclusively male representations of the female body and the subversion of traditional forms of representation of women is studied by examining the work of Annie Sprinkle and Cindy Sherman. Many representations of the female body by feminist artists are considered highly disturbing and transgressive, precisely because they traverse traditional and acceptable representations of it. The idealised nude forms the epitome of contained ideals of health and beauty, and the work of Orlan and Cindy Sherman is examined within these terms in Chapter 3. These artists' representations of the female body are in direct opposition to such norms, rather settling for an open-ended, unconfined and abject representation. However, such transgressive cultural images produced by women artists are often regarded as pathological acts, and dismissed in terms of deplorable spectacle. The research concludes with a commentary on the candidate's practical work, which in dealing with the representation of the human body explores some issues of visuality, spectacle and fragmentation. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: 'n Spektakel kan op 'n indrukwekkende of betreurenswaardige skouspel dui; gevolglik betrek dit die politiese en magseienskappe van besigtiging. Die vroulike liggaam bestaan as 'n seksuele objek van só 'n proses van besigtiging binne die Westerse kultuur - nie net in kuns nie, maar ook in diskoerse soos geneeskunde en die wetenskap. In beide kuns en geneeskunde, is die vroulike liggaam beskou as 'n passiewe objek vir bestudering, analisering en klassifisering. Magsverhoudinge en ideologieë het gevolglik 'n groot rol gespeel in die uiteindelike objektifiserende representasies, en gevolglik is die uitbeelding van die vroulike liggaam in terme van spektakel vasgelê. Liggaamlike persepsies, veral in terme van die vroulike figuur, het noemenswaardige veranderinge ondergaan - veral deur die hervertolking van seksualiteit deur feministiese teorie. Moderne kultuur en tegnologie bied verdere moontlikhede vir die herdefiniëring en begrip van die liggaam. Die moderne liggaam word onder streng bewaking en betragting geplaas - net soos sy negentiende-eeuse ewebeeld. Hierdie studie ondersoek dié idees deur die bestudering van 'n verskeidenheid voorbeelde vanuit skilderkuns, fotografie en 'performance' -kuns, asook objekte soos anatomiese objekte en mediese illustrasies. Kwessies van besigtiging is sentraal tot die konstruksie van die liggaam as spektakel. Hoofstuk londersoek dus idees rondom besigtiging - onder andere die politiese en magseienskappe, en die gevolglike objektifiserende effek daarvan - in verhouding tot die funksionering van die mediese en die estetiese blik. Die konsep van spektakel word verder uitgebrei in terme van die negentiende-eeuse karnaval, asook in terme van taboes en sosiale oortreding. Sekere aspekte van estetiese en mediese diskoerse fokus op die vertoning en besigtiging van die vroulike liggaam. Hoofstuk 2 ondersoek die wyse waarop hierdie diskoerse die vroulike liggaam in hoogs visuele terme uitgebeeld het. Beide diskoerse is gemotiveer deur dominante ideologieë, wat gevolglik 'n instrumentele rol gespeel het in die uitbeelding van die vroulike liggaam. Sulke uitbeeldings is dikwels gemotiveer deur standaarde en ideale van skoonheid. Gevolglik word pornografie in hierdie hoofstuk bespreek as 'n moderne diskoers wat georganiseer is rondom die vertoning en besigtiging van die vroulike liggaam. Feministiese teorie skep 'n positiewe ruimte waarin sulke eksklusiewe, manlike definisies en uitbeeldings van die vroulike liggaam uitgedaag kan word. Die omverwerping van tradisionele metodes van uitbeelding word hier ondersoek deur die werk van Annie Sprinkle en Cindy Sherman te bespreek. Die herdefiniëring van die vroulike liggaam deur feministiese kunstenaars word dikwels beskou as onstellend; waarskynlik omdat dit tradisionele en aanvaarbare uitbeeldings van die liggaam oortree. Die werk van Orlan en Cindy Sherman word in terme van sosiale oortreding in Hoofstuk 3 ondersoek. Die klassieke naakfiguur stel die ideale van skoonheid en stabiliteit voor. Hierdie kunstenaars se uitbeeldings toon egter 'n doelbewuste verontagsaming van sulke ideale, deurdat hulle eerder 'n oop, onstabiele en gefragmenteerde figuur uitbeeld. Oortredings van kulturele norme deur vrouekunstenaars word dikwels beskou as patalogiese aksies; en dit word dus maklik afgekeur as 'n spektakel. Die navorsing word afgesluit met 'n bespreking van die kandidaat se praktiese werk, wat die uitbeelding van die menslike liggaam ondersoek. Gevolglik word kwessies van besigtiging, spektakel en fragmentasie verder ondersoek.

This research surveys ideology and iconology in the presentation of the autobiographical and biographical female nude as envisioned by American women artists in the painting, drawing and printmaking media from 1969 to 1983. Contemporary dialogue by critics, artists and feminists on the definition of feminine content led to the articulation of the undraped nude torso as the central icon of the study. This static icon was pushed through a variety of styles into multi subtleties of iconology. The female nude by women artists is autobiographical even in biography emphasizing self-identification and authenticity. General constraints were placed on the survey the definability or explicit articulation of the female torso as opposed to suggestive imagery, the time frame in which the nude was created, and the chosen media for study. Art historical methodology was employed to descriptively examine image and intent of the nude presentations in references through time as well as visual traditions of symbology. This survey began at the turn of the century for historical background to emphasize the greater proliferation of the nude from 1969 to 1983. There were limitations specifically associated with the earlier time frame (1900-1969)--the lack of art educational opportunities for the female student, the socio-political climate dealing with the acceptability of the nude, and a very general lack of attention from the publishing market towards women artists. Six artists were identified: Lillian Genth, Romaine Brooks, Margarite Zorach, Isobel Bishop, Louise Nevelson and Louise Bourgeois. The coalescence of socio-political circumstances around 1969, allowing for the greater incidence of the female nude occasioned the selection of 1969 as a perimeter of research. Within 19 69-1983 a greater number of artists and a far greater number of works were evident, seventeen in all, including Alice Neel, Marisol, Mary Frank, Nancy Spero, Joan Brown, Sylvia Sleigh, Martha Mayer Erlebacher, Mary Beth Edelson, Joan Seminel, Jillian Denby, Daphne Mumford, Juanita McNeeley, Martha Edelheit, Shirley Gorelick, Janet Culbertson, Anita Steckel, and Pat Steir. The amazing diversification of the work presented is united by the female nude icon which by subtle visual manipulation and compositional placement offers ideology which expands the Twentieth century definition of female.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Department of Art History, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Teilw. zugl.: Erlangen-Nürnberg, University, Habil.-Schr., 2003.

This study is an analysis of how the artworks Övermålning, God Giving a Fuck and Lesbisk häxhora by Carolina Falkholt can be interpreted and received by the surrounding society. To do this, the study uses a semiotic image analysis and a reception history analysis. The study has its base in a feminist perspective as well as in art sociology, to further deepen the analysis with different perspectives and in connection to the society and societal norms. The result of this study shows that there are multiple ways to interpret the motifs of the artworks by Carolina Falkholt. They can be seen as a political statement to shed light on feminist struggles and the beauty of the nude female body and the vagina, but also as actively provocative art where the female body is violated as a result of being displayed in a public setting. However, the study also discusses how the works of Carolina Falkholt have previously been renowned and praised by art institutions, and how her work continues to find success, with added inquiries of her work in public settings, despite regulations. Therefore, the study concludes that the artworks by Carolina Falkholt is qualified to be seen as art that advances and favor Swedish culture, regardless of the negative feedback the art has received.

No description available.

This study is an analysis of the printed images Målaren och hennes modell i rummet, Ängeln, Ormbunke IIII and Advokaten by Lena Cronqvist from the collection at Norrköpings Konstmuseum. The purpose of the study is to examine the works with a theoretical base in materiality with a feminist perspective. The result shows that themes such as the artist role, art canon, the female nude, life and death, nature, the girl and the mother can be identified in Cronqvist’s works. Through the artworks materiality and medium, the themes become apparent and enhanced by their physical reproduction and repetition. The culture debate regarding art and their status as originals or reproductions further the connections between Lena Cronqvist’s printed images and a problematization of societal norms and ideals regarding gender, art and the artist. Furthermore, the study shows that the printed images has not been represented in institutions in the same way as Cronqvist’s paintings and sculptures. This could be because the medium is not considered as a part of traditional high art, since Lena Cronqvist otherwise is a recognized artist with a place in the Swedish art canon. However, it is possible that it is also a result of a lack of resources within the Swedish institutions.

The aim of this essay is to examine the censorship that the social media platform Instagram exerts over pictures of female nudes, and whether the body type of the women depicted is a factor in how the censorship is carried through. This is executed by making a comparative picture analysis of eight nude photos published on Instagram, four of which are allowed on the platform and four which are not, and have therefore been deleted. The bodies are analysed, and aspects of how they are depicted which are related to the Instagram Community Guidelines, and furthermore if the body depicted conforms to the norms of our contemporary beauty standards and “the Male Gaze”, are reviewed. This fundamental part of the study isbased on the formal analysis and the methods of semiotics. Furthermore, the history of the nude in art, the body norms and ideals of our contemporary society, the Instagram Community rules and Guidelines and the artists are presented briefly. The discussion which has been carried through is based on the analysis and thesis of how female nudes of the Western art cannon have been received, judged, divided into categories and censored to answer the central inquires of the essay. In conclusion, this essay finds how pictures of nude women on Instagram are received, judged, and censored differently depending on whether they fit into the norms of beauty and conform to the male gaze. Hence, the rules of Instagram are found to have been followed through with double standard and bias.

Initially, my developing body of work aimed to redesign the traditions of representational painting, specifically the female nude, to depict the contemporary notions of lesbianism and femininity in an honest and empowering manner as a form of identity and not as vehicle for voyeurism. As an artist who paints the female nude and identifies as a woman and a lesbian, I examine the preexisting notions of the male gaze and the effect of socialization as it pertains to my work. The act of looking from the point of view of a woman, which is not synonymous with a "female gaze", or from the point of view of a lesbian, is not a birthright, but a conscious effort to constantly question the way we see and produce pictures and realizing that the male gaze permeates most images of female nudes. By the nature of my sexuality and my exposure to existing male-produced images, do I see the female nude through the male gaze or is there a gaze that is essentially female? Does it matter either way if the image is aesthetically compelling? My paintings neither attempt to conform to the male gaze or debunk it, nor do I attempt to prove the existence of a female gaze. Like Edgar Degas, I wish to look through a keyhole-a form of voyeurism-to see people outside of their public facade.