Italijanska umetnica Federica Marangoni je leta 2016 ustvarila neonsko instalacijo v izložbenem oknu londonske galerije, ki se je imenovala Art Has No Sex – Umetnost nima spola. Z umetniškim delom je želela predstaviti svoje videnje umetnosti in njene brezspolnosti. Njeno umetniško delo je bilo navdih za poimenovanje te razstave, katere koncept je predstaviti ženske teme v umetniških delih, ki so jih ustvarile umetnice, ki so zaznamovale slovensko umetniško sceno.
Idejo za razstavo smo v Galeriji mesta Ptuj dobili, ko smo vstopili v evropski projekt »European Women’s Remembrance – REWOMEN«, ki želi približati in razširiti vedenje o drugem valu feminizma ter njegovih dosežkih v evropskem prostoru. Raziskovanje in razmišljanje o feminizmu ter ženski vlogi v družbi me je motiviralo, da sem iskala umetnice, ki se v svojem ustvarjanju dotikajo tem o ženski podobi, ženski seksualnosti, stereotipih o ženskah, o tabu temah in nasilju nad ženskami. Skupinska razstava Umetnost nima spola predstavlja umetniška dela, ki se dotikajo ženskih tem in so jih ustvarile roke ženskih umetnic. To ni feministična razstava, čeprav na njej sodelujejo umetnice, ki so se označile kot feministke.
Zakaj je pomembno predstaviti takšno tematiko? V slovenski družbi so se teme, ki jih je obravnaval drugi val feminizma, odprle v 80. letih prejšnjega stoletja. Glavni slogan, ki so ga razširjale feministke, je bil: »Osebno je politično!« Po štiridesetih letih vidimo, da so določene teme še vedno zavite v tančico skrivnosti in o njih premalo javno razpravljamo. Namen razstave je vzpodbuditi debato o ženskih temah, ki so še vedno potisnjene v sfero neizrečenega.
Razstavljena dela predstavljajo kritiko družbe z ženskega vidika. Umetnice obravnavane teme raziskujejo v raznolikih umetniških medijih, stilih in mišljenjih. S percepcijo ženske podobe v današnji družbi se ukvarjata ptujski umetnici Tjaša Tia Cusch in Sandra Požun, ki imata različna pogleda na ženske in telesa. Tjaša Tia Cusch upodablja dekleta z naslovnic modnih revij. Slikane portrete razgradi z ekspresivnimi potezami, da dekleta dobijo potrebno ostrino. Njena interpretacija ženskega obraza prikazuje raziskovanje sodobnega portreta, ki staro tradicijo prepleta z novo digitalno kulturo. V svojem delu raziskuje medijski in modni svet, ki nenehno narekujeta vrednote lepote in vplivata na samopodobo žensk širom sveta. Podobno razmišljanje zasledimo v fotografijah Sandre Požun, saj kritizira kanonizirano lepoto in podobe iz množičnih medijev, s katerimi je bombardirana naša družba. Čeprav se je posvetila fotografiranju človeškega telesa, ne želi prikazati trenda lepih teles. Privlačijo jo telesa, ki so oropana identitete, deformirana in imajo nepravilnosti, a so zanjo še vedno najlepše kreacije narave.
Mina Fina s serijo »Samo to veš, da moraš« upodablja stilizirane podobe žensk, ki so neidentificirane, njihove poze pa vzete iz modnih in erotičnih revij. Izčiščene silhuete žensk ne nudijo stereotipnega poželenja ob ženski podobi in delujejo kot simboli novega konteksta. Nove podobe so kritika družbe, v kateri nam množični mediji vsiljujejo ideale. Do teh idealov je kritična tudi Lea Culetto, ki z mešanjem tekstila in drugih medijev ustvarja umetniške instalacije v obliki feministično obarvanih kolekcij oblačil. Te nas spodbudijo k razmišljanju o ženskem telesu in z njim povezanimi temami (menstruacija, deviškost, poraščenost ipd.). Instalacija deflowered by Lea je kolekcija oblačil, v kateri se prepletata umetnost in obrt šivanja, saj nas oblačila presunejo s svojim močnim izrazom, a nas kljub temu nagovarjajo, da si jih zaželimo obleči.
Tina Dobrajc je poznana po svojih delih, v katerih upodablja podobe deklet in žensk v slovenski krajini. Tokrat sta predstavljeni njeni zgodnji deli, ko je na tekstil narisala dekleti, ki pred našimi očmi postajata ženski, saj sta dobili menstruacijo. Zelo dobro je upodobila čustva ob tem dogodku, prav tako se je poigrala z risbo in vezenjem. Rdeča barva menstruacije, ob kateri so dekleta začudena, ustvari kontrast črni risbi na belem prtu in deluje izredno estetsko.
Tjaša Rener v svoji likovni praksi afriški kontinent povezuje z evropsko tradicijo in ustvarja hibride kultur. Portretira prijatelje, ki jih spoznava v Gani, predvsem črnske ženske z močnimi temperamenti, ki kar sijejo s platna. Zraven aktualne produkcije smo predstavili njena zgodnejša dela, ki provokativno obravnavajo ženske stereotipe in so skupek dveh likovnih tehnik – slikanja in grafike. Eva Lucija Kozak upodablja vsakdanje prizore, osebne odnose in identitete v sodobni družbi. Vedno bolj se v svojih delih dotika sodobne ženske identitete in kako se družba odziva na ustaljene vedenjske vzorce ter stereotipe. Zanimive družabne dogodke začini s humorjem in jih pretopi v družbeno kritične slike.
Najbolj povedno delo je razstavljen umetniški projekt Ženski taxi feministične umetnice Aprilije Lužar, ki predstavlja multimedijski projekt, povezan z umetniško akcijo, ko se je umetnica spremenila v taksistko/terapevtko, ki je žrtve posilstva vozila v galerijski prostor. Med vožnjo so ženske z njo delile zgodbe, nekatere so dovolile tudi snemanje. S tem projektom je želela žrtve osvoboditi sramu in jih predstaviti v vlogi herojinj. Njeno delo Ženski taxi nam prikaže feministično umetniško prakso, ki je prispevala k prepoznavnosti nasilja nad ženskami, se uprla prevladujočim nasilnim normam in jih pričela spreminjati v javnem prostoru. Razstavljena je tudi njena serija Masturbacija iz leta 1987, s katero je umetnica spregovorila o tem tabuju, zapostavljenih in prepovedanih ženskih spolnih temah, povezanih z ženskim spolnim užitkom.
Na omenjeno temo se navezujeta dve mlajši umetnici različnih generacij. Slađana Mitrović v ekspresionističnem slogu slika ženske med masturbiranjem. Poudarjena rdeča barva simbolizira užitek v svojem telesu. Slike prikazujejo nekakšne krajine strasti med samozadovoljevanjem. V njenih delih se prekrivajo erotične teme in feministični pogled na seksualnost. Olja Grubič razkriva žensko intimo, a v svojih delih uporabi humor in provokacijo. Risbe samozadovoljevanja žensk z različno zelenjavo in sadeži popestrijo galerijski prostor ter predstavljajo nove interpretacije uživanja v ženskem telesu.
Na žensko spolnost se navezujejo dela Saše Bezjak, ki se izraža z risbo na tekstil ali papir. Pri risbi je glavna izraznost linija, s katero je upodobila stilizirane podobe parov med spolnim občevanjem. Te podobe predstavljajo umetničin pogled na spolnost in ekstazo, saj se poglablja v dinamiko družbe in raziskuje medosebne odnose. Ivana Bajec ustvarja abstraktna dela, ki v sebi nosijo sporočilnost umetnice. Opozarjajo nas na žensko spolno svobodo, njeno spolno raziskovanje in s tem odpirajo vprašanja ženske seksualnosti.
Umetnice Martina Bastarda, Mateja Ocepek in Nataša Skušek so leta 2002 pripravile video, ki provokativno in satirično obravnava neenakost spolov. Video predstavlja tri ženske, ki urinirajo stoje. S tem na humoren način predstavljajo, kako ženske vidijo moške, ko svoje potrebe opravljajo kjerkoli. Andrea Knezović je predstavljena z video instalacijo Fuckmachine: Label, Disable, Unable. Posneta umetniška akcija prikazuje umetnico, ki s ponavljajočimi gibi svoje telo označuje s štampiljko Fuckmachine. S tem umetnica protestira proti instrumentalizaciji ženskega utelešenja in spolnim vlogam, ki jih je zasnovala naša družba. Delo je refleksija umetnice do svojih intimnih metod upora napram spolnim modelom družbe.
Doroteja Kotnik
Italian artist Federica Marangoni created a neon installation in the window of a London gallery in 2016, which she called Art has no sex. She created this artwork to show her vision of art and its sexlessness. Her work inspired the title of this exhibition, the concept of which is to present women’s issues through art by female artists who left their mark on the Slovenian art world.
Ptuj City Gallery got the idea for this exhibition when we joined the European project “European Women’s Remembrance – REWOMEN”, which aims to promote and spread knowledge about second-wave feminism and its achievements in Europe. Exploring and contemplating feminism and women’s role in society motivated me to look for female artists whose work examines the issues of the image and sexuality of women, stereotypes about women, taboo subjects and violence against women. The group exhibition Art Has No Sex features works that address women’s issues and were created by women. This is not a feminist exhibition, even though it includes artists who have declared themselves feminists.
Why is it important to present these issues? Issues that were explored by second-wave feminism were raised in the Slovenian society in the 1980s. The main slogan used by the feminists was: “The personal is political!” Forty years later certain issues are still neglected and hardly discussed publicly. The purpose of the exhibition is to open the discussion on women’s issues, which are still pushed to the sphere of the untold.
The exhibited artworks are critical of the society from a woman’s perspective. Artists explore the issues through diverse artistic media, styles and mind-sets. Local artists Tjaša Tia Cusch and Sandra Požun have looked at the issue of the perception of women’s image in today’s society from their different perspectives on women and their bodies. Tjaša Tia Cusch portrays young women from fashion magazine covers. She deconstructs painted portraits with expressive strokes that add necessary sharpness to the young women. Her interpretation of the female face explores the contemporary portrait, which merges tradition with the new digital culture. Her work delves into the world of media and fashion, which keeps promoting the value of beauty, affecting self-image of women around the world. Similar ideas can be found in Sandra Požun’s photos, which criticize the beauty canon and mass media images bombarding our society. Even though she dedicated herself to photographing the human body, she does not want to display the trend of beautiful bodies. She is attracted by bodies that are robbed of their identity and deformed, bodies with abnormalities, which she deems the most beautiful creations of nature.
Mina Fina’s series “The only thing you know is that you must” uses stylized images of unidentified women in poses from fashion and erotic magazines. Refined female silhouettes do not evoke the stereotypical lust over a woman’s image, and appear as symbols of the new context. New images criticize the society where mass media are forcing ideals on us. Lea Culetto is also critical of these ideals, and uses textile and other materials to make installations in the form of feminist-inspired collections of clothes. Her works encourage us to think about the female body and associated issues (period, virginity, body hair, etc.). The deflowered by Lea is a collection of clothes that combine art and the craft of sewing, and the clothes touch the viewers with their expressiveness, while inviting them to put them on.
Tina Dobrajc is known for her works portraying girls and women against the backdrop of Slovenia’s landscapes. This exhibition brings two of her early works, drawings on textile that show two girls transforming into women before our eyes after getting their first period. She skillfully captured the emotions of this milestone, combining drawing and embroidery. The red color of period blood that surprises the girls creates an aesthetic contrast with the black drawing on the white cloth.
The artistic practice of Tjaša Rener merges the African continent with European tradition, creating hybrids of cultures. She portraits her friends from Ghana, mostly black women with strong personalities that seem to radiate from the canvas. We presented her current production alongside her earlier works, which provocatively examine stereotypes about women and blend two art techniques – painting and printmaking. Eva Lucija Kozak depicts everyday scenes, personal relationships and identities in today’s society. Her works have been increasingly focusing on the questions of modern woman’s identity and the society’s response to ingrained behavior patterns and stereotypes. She seasons interesting social events with humor, turning them into socially critical paintings.
The project Women’s Taxi by feminist artist Aprilija Lužar is the most expressive artwork exhibited. The multimedia project is linked to the art intervention, in which the artist turned into a taxi driver/therapist and drove rape victims to a gallery. During the ride, the women shared their stories, some of them also agreed to be recorded. She wanted the project to free the women from shame, and present them as heroines. Her work Women’s Taxi shows a feminist artistic practice that contributed to the awareness about violence against women, resisted the prevailing violent norms, and started changing them in the public space. The exhibition also includes her series Master-bation from 1987, in which the author examines this taboo, neglected and forbidden topics of women’s sexuality and their sexual pleasure.
This topic is also explored by two young artists from different generations. Slađana Mitrović paints masturbating women in expressionist style. The prominent red symbolizes pleasure in own body. The paintings are like landscapes of passion during masturbation. Erotic topics overlap with a feminist perspective on sexuality in her works. Olja Grubič uncovers women’s intimacy through humor and provocation. Her drawings of women masturbating with different vegetables and fruits brighten up the gallery space and offer new interpretations of pleasure in woman’s body.
Saša Bezjak’s drawings on textile and paper also look at female sexuality. The main expression of the drawing is the line, with which Saša creates stylized images of couples during intercourse. These images present the artist’s view on sex and ecstasy, closely examining the dynamics of the society and exploring interpersonal relationships. Ivana Bajec expresses herself through abstract art. She highlights the subjects of woman’s sexual freedom, her sexual exploration, and opens the topics of female sexuality.
Artists Martina Bastarda, Mateja Ocepek and Nataša Skušek made a video in 2002, provocatively and satirically discussing gender inequality. The video shows three women peeing standing up, humorously demonstrating how women see men when they relieve themselves wherever. Andrea Knezović presents her video installation Fuckmachine: Label, Disable, Unable. The recorded art intervention shows the artist stamping her body with the word Fuckmachine using repetitive movements. This is the artist’s way of protesting against the instrumentalization of women’s bodies and gender roles designed by our society. The work reflects on the author’s intimate methods of resistance against society’s gender models.
Doroteja Kotnik
