Structure of My Paper

Abstract

I am going to talk about my illustration subjects that based on women, female body, female issues and how I want to develop them in a fun but teasing way. Also I will give hints about references from body representation including Ancient Greek, Medieval and Renaissance periods and 19th, 20th centuries through history. Regarding illustration and women representation, I will look for Pin-Up Girls and visual transformation of female body from illustration to photography. Objectification of female body will lead me to talk about body politics and Michel Foucault’s Biopolitics. On the other side, satire drawings in the history, cynical art will be discussed during the background survey. 

Introduction

I will mention that female body and wrong public discourses, taboos are my topics to draw about. My works aim to show how we are affected by public norms directly. 

My personal and artistic approach opposes admitted facts of beauty. I prefer drawing chubbiness, plump nude bodies that not seeking perfection. Besides, I believe satire or cynical style has power to throw realities and unseen facts into people’s face. 

Literature Review

Body Representation in Art History

I am going to start my background review with The Classical Period. Ancient Greek culture were dominated by men and it reflected to the art. Analyzing sculptures of that period, we can reach a conclusion that men are strong and confident and women are shy and innocent. While female sculptures were clothed or draped in togas, males were sculpted carefully till the hair of their genitals. 

During the Medieval Period, feudalism and power of Catholic Church affected culture and art. Medieval art showed itself in religious subjects. The human body was less important than the spiritual sense. Virgin Mary, notably a single figure, represented as an idealized figure in the feminine side.

Moving on to Renaissance Art, both religious and nonreligious scenes were displayed. Women were the common subjects within Renaissance art forms. Nudity and sexuality were the predominant aspects of the female subjectiveness. In addition to these, women represented in artworks as virtuous wife with childlike innocence, yet at the same time, a desirable object. This means that art forms didn’t reflect the realities of the society, but showed the social ideals.

Sandra Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus and Titians’s Venus of Urbino are the most known examples of female sexuality and beauty. 

In the modern art, Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss shows how gender identities and representation gradually transformed. Then, femme fatale emerged with the birth of Art Nouveau. Traditional masculine figure started to lose its importance and cross-gender figures evolved. Feminism rose during the 20th century and art became a tool to change social and political disorders. 

From Canvas To Illustration

Female illustration showed itself with the Pin-Up Girls in 1800s. I will talk about history of Pin-up Girls from Gibson Girls to World War II period. The World War II and U.S. Government ideology changed the female visualization. Pinups carefully designed by government to raise morale of army by representing sexy girls. Pinups had golden age during the World War II, because US soldiers couldn't go anywhere without seeing a pin-up girl. Soon the erotic tactics prepared for war advertising were extended to all advertising. 

With the launch of Playboy magazine, pin-ups transformed from illustration to photography. American pop culture throughout to 20th century uplifted image of modern, independent women who exhibited herself with the sexuality. Not surprisingly, advertising campaigns and other mediums often dictated by male gaze.

Body Politics

States, policies and some social norms have more power to speak about our body than we do. For a long time, the body has been portrayed as idealized, sometimes even designed, rather than visualize it in natural state. 

I will talk about how states and the power control people to “normalize” them. Centralized power or micro-powers detects the abnormals, learn them to be healthy and fit, heterosexual, active and regular. Then I would like to point out Foucault’s “Biopolitics” and “Biopower”. In short, biopolitics can be understood as a political rationality which takes the administration of life and populations as its subject: ‘to ensure, sustain, and multiply life, to put this life in order’. *

I will give further references from Foucault about bio power in this section.

Satire in Art History

I will mention satire history that started in the eighteenth century in England with caricature, then how it gained more liberty in France after the French Revolution. Also I am going to give some pioneer British and European illustrators names. It had golden age during the nineteenth century with humorous political magazines in Europe.

Dadaism is an intellectual and artistic movement that arose in the chaotic context of the World War I and it became turning point of humor in the twenty century art. 

Surrealism emerged after Dadaism with the same provocative attitude but integrating the world of irrationality and dream.

I would like to move to today’s humor in contemporary art with avant garde Chinese contemporary art movement, Cynical Realism. World famous Chinese artist Yue Minjun made irony for political criticism with his burlesque works. I will explain how Cynical Realism was born from censorship and dictatorship in China. Also, I would like to show some Yue Minjun's works by analyzing his unique style. The reason why I only represent Yue Minjun works from that art movement is that feeling of closeness to his style most.

Current Artists

I will introduce three artists and their works that I have inspired recently. 

Laura Callaghan, Joan Cornella, Polly Nor. The common feature of these three artists is having a dark, cynical but funny style.

The Work

The main subject of my works is the body. I mostly illustrate women without any sense of beauty. Intentionally, I prefer vibrant colors and thick outlines to make them more hard-hitting. Also, I will talk about why my characters have small head and large body proportions.

My creative process starts at the sketchbooks, then often it moves to digital. Recently, I illustrate characters that seeming having fun in the dramatic situations. I will give an example to clarify this statement. 

Conclusion/Future Work

I have encountered the relation between pressure and creativity within the art history. Almost always, the increase in political and religious pressure has increased creativity tremendously.

I will sum up the subject headings that I mentioned above and how my works are related to them. 

Lastly, I will move forward to illustrate not only female body, but also male body by questioning Biopolitics on my future works. Body will be the main subject of my works again. Although not yet certain, I want to make 2D animation with my hand-drawn illustrations. 

* http://criticallegalthinking.com/2017/05/10/michel-foucault-biopolitics-biopower/