Wikipedia talk:Education program archive/University of Washington/Global Feminist Art (Spring 2015)

The gap that I will work to improve is the definition of feminist art provided on Wikipedia. More specifically, what is lacking are details that illustrate the misconceptions of feminist art. During the early stages of the class, I relied heavily on Wikipedia’s definition of feminist art in order to follow class discussions around this topic. I noticed that the given definition of feminist art on the Wikipedia page was lacking after a number of class discussions where Professor Walland provided her perspective on the subject and as well as during my own online search on the definition of feminist art.

The definition provided on Wikipedia contains good points however it does limit the intentions of feminist art. The Wikipedia definition fails to illustrate that feminist art is a way of thinking, a perspective, and also a practice. Not all feminist art is created to be “feminist art.” Instead, individuals interpret ideas or recognize a message in an art piece which they then identify as feminist art because that message is aligned with the intentions of feminist art. Furthermore, the Wikipedia definition explains that feminist art encourages “viewers” to question social and political norms in society. This is true, however, by having such a vague statement about the core intentions of feminist art devalues the issues that statement is eluding to. Feminist art challenges normative and oppressive behavior and thinking about gender, race, class, identity, and more. Feminist art purposes questions such as what does it mean for something to be art? Who is represented as an artist? And how have these normative ways of thinking persisted and have been tolerated for so long?

The following details of feminist art are intended to be an addition to the pre-existing article of Feminist Art. This information is intended to emphasis that feminist art is a perspective rather than a category. To accomplish this, I will introduce ways of analyzing to then gain a feminist art interpretation. Typically in art description, content, and context are the three pillars of analyzing an art piece. This also holds true for feminist art the only difference lies in the context. In feminist art the context is often tightly interlocked with the concept of intersectionality. Intersectionality refers to the relationships of power such as race, gender, and class. When using a feminist art lens the viewer is focusing on the relationship of these powers or viewing the image to identify the presences of these powers.

As I stated earlier feminist art seeks to deconstruct normative behaviors in art which have mainly been perpetuated by institutions such as museums and art schools. In the past there have been very few women artists to have their pieces exhibited in museums. The ways which institutions have been corrected by artists for their influence in perpetuating inequality has been through performances. Although performances are not a practice uniquely feminist, it has been used in ways to reveal and exploit behaviors of museums. When using a feminist art lens one can recognize that the actions taken through performances are aligned with the intentions of feminist art. These are really abstract concepts and ideas, however it is necessary to take these account when speaking of feminist art because these points illustrate that feminist art is a way of thinking and not a specific style or model.