Figure as Form
The depiction of the human body in art history is a field littered with problematic tropes: the heroic male, the objectified female, the exotic native. These pervasive images stem from traditions of art and beauty that were developed from a strictly white, European, male, and heteronormative perspective. Feminine bodies in western culture have almost always been viewed as objects of display, not to mention non-white or queer bodies, which are likewise consigned to be fetishitic oddities if they are included at all. The artists in this exhibition take the human form, with all of its art historical and societal baggage, as their subject.
Recommended for you
The depiction of the human body in art history is a field littered with problematic tropes: the heroic male, the objectified female, the exotic native. These pervasive images stem from traditions of art and beauty that were developed from a strictly white, European, male, and heteronormative perspective. Feminine bodies in western culture have almost always been viewed as objects of display, not to mention non-white or queer bodies, which are likewise consigned to be fetishitic oddities if they are included at all. The artists in this exhibition take the human form, with all of its art historical and societal baggage, as their subject.
