Five contemporary women artists

Contemporary art is the beauty of the present because it explores every field and illustration of art that allows the artist to express relevant issues to today's society not only through paint but through photograph, performances, sculpture and video art.  During modernism it was believed that the highest form of art was painting, however, through post-modernism and contemporary art we continue to discredit such beliefs by seeing successful forms of art expression in today's culture. I have chosen these five contemporary women because I believe their work describes the important issues of today's society that have persisted such as sexism, racism, gender, and sexual violence. Not only are they portraying these issues, but they are also trying to elicit change and reaction toward it.  Moreover, their artistic mechanisms are unique and teach us that art can be performed in many ways. 

Faith Ringgold, born in 1930

Faith Ringgold painting, photograph by Anthony Barboza/getty images

Faith Ringgold, The wedding: Lover's quilt No.1 1986

Faith Ringgold's work is based on the traditional craft of quilt making, in an interview, "Quilting as an Art Form", she explains her motivations to use quilt as her main art work, the fact that quilt making has slaves roots and she has the ability to transform it into something beautiful with a message is what gives her work the most meaning. In her work she tells the story of her black community and the challenges faced because of racism. She addresses prejudice through political statements, she highlights ethnic tension and provides an insight into how african american culture is perceived by white americans and vice versa. For instance, in "The Wedding: Lovers' quilt No. 1, 1986", she addresses the issues of racism and prejudice  in a message that portrays the idea that celebrations such as weddings are not only worthy of "whiteness" but also to african american culture. She makes a catalog of faces of real people for the viewer to understand the humanity of them. She also aims to protest and express the challenges faced by black families, their identity and the stereotypes.

Yoko Ono, born in 1933

Yoko Ono, Cut Piece, 1964.

Before meeting John Lenon, Yoko Ono was already becoming a pioneer in performance art and thus recognized for her famous work. She often faced the challenges of remaining famous for being a quality artist rather than the partner of a famous rock star, the media invasion was also a challenge for her as it would prevent her from working on her art. She rejected the idea of modernism, which insisted that the highest form of art had to be materialized, hence why her art style is unique since is is based on live performance. Her art was based on scripts, or instructions to be followed by her as a performer and by the audience. Yoko Ono's uniqueness in art is that she integrated the audience physically to complete her performance artwork and it gave it a much deeper meaning. One of her most famous work is "Cut piece, 1964" presented at the Sogetsu Art Center, Tokyo, where she invited the audience to physical engage in the performance by cutting pieces of her clothing using scissors until only her underwear was left. Yoko Ono delivered a strong an powerful message trough this performance, her message was about the sexual violence of unveiling the woman's body, gender and the outcomes when we allow such things to happen in public spectacle. 

Barbara Kruger, born in 1945

Barbara Kruger

Barbara's style of art focuses on bringing forward the problems faced in modern society especially those that challenge women the most, such as gender and culture.  Her work consists of cropped pictures/digital media of women with text as captions delivering a message, in addition, it leans more toward propagandistic illustration. Through her work she portrays the problems in society such as that of the male gaze and having a mind of your own. The key to her art is to induce a change in the viewer as a reaction to what they are seeing. One of her works, "Untitled (Your body is a battleground) (1989)", Kruger positions the female face split into two, presumably projecting positive and negative sides expressing the constant fight between good and evil in a female's body.

Her message addresses the struggles of women against male gaze and the fights faced to be the owner of your own body.

Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Your body is a battle ground) (1989)

Adrian Piper, born in 1948

Adrian Piper in Berlin, 2005

Adrian Piper focuses on addressing the issue of racism, class, and gender, her style or performance is also unique in the sense that she uses video tapes rather than traditional painting. However, this allows us to engage with the audience directly to induce a raise in awareness and  consciousness. Her goal is to confront the audience to reveal racist attitudes and behaviors which may be hidden or implicitly expressed. In "Cornered, 1988", Piper uses a video tape to establish conversation between her and the audience. The audience is challenged by her, it draws the viewer's attention to his/her own biases and brings to surface all their emotions.

Adrian Piper, Cornered, 1988

Mickalene Thomas, born in 1971

Mickalene Thomas

Mickalene Thomas' work is characterized by colorful portraits using nontraditional mechanisms of painting such as glitter, stones etc. Her work is focused on the beauty of African American women who has been poorly represented in the history of art, and if they were portrayed, it has been through stereotypes and subservient and inferior roles. Her work portrays african american women as powerful, classy, and feminine. One of her works, "A little taste outside of love, 2007", is a very interesting painting because it has the native of a nude,  but its message is different from what we used to see in the past. The general female nudes in past art have always carried a meaning of submissiveness and have faced the challenges of heavy male gaze, which gave the idea that women were there for the purpose to please the male viewer. However, Mickalene Thomas' work reflects the opposite, although it is a nude, there are many other details that make it special. It is a black woman, in the past majority of nudes were form white women, the female in this work is painted in a beautiful decorated background which she has decided to be in. The general nudes always portrayed women in nature-like environment because it associated women with nature. Nevertheless, this work gives the essence to the viewer that the female painted has established the desire to be in that place because it is own to her identity. As opposed to the usual nudes, "A little taste outside of love" portrays a female who is not submissive, but rather it has the essence of a powerful and confident woman who has a mind of her own.

Mickalene Thomas, A little taste outside of love, 2007

“Yoko Ono Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/artist-ono-yoko.htm.

“Barbara Kruger Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/artist-kruger-barbara-artworks.htm#pnt_2.

“Fine Art Focus: Mickalene Thomas.” Design Sponge, www.designsponge.com/2015/09/fine-art-focus-mickalene-thomas.html.

“Faith Ringgold Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/artist-ringgold-faith-artworks.htm.

Adrian Piper: A Canvas of Concerns -- Race, Racism and Class, 24 Dec. 1999, www.asu.edu/cfa/wwwcourses/art/SOACore/piper-art-review.html.

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. 4th ed. New York, N.Y.: Thames and Hudson, 1990. Print.