Consider the following view:
'Artists often say what would otherwise remain unsaid.' Discuss this view, using examples of artists whose functional role is to challenge mainstream values. |
Artists hold the privilege of being able to communicate to their audience in ways inaccessible by other forms of expression. Hence, they "often say what would otherwise remain unsaid". Contemporary artist Janet Laurence once said, "Art, if it engages, can linger in the mind the way that pure information can't". Laurence abides by this quote in her employment of art as a means of advocating for the environment through an unusual, but tranquil lens of healing and calm optimism. Renowned 19th century artist Edouard Manet challenged the artistic conventions of the era, while simultaneously bringing to light the more ignored topics of Parisian society. Post-modern performance artist Vanessa Beecroft, taking a leaf out of Manet's book, questions the typical approach to the female nude by employing the live figure. This element of her practice has also allowed her to potently address to a Western audience the unknown (or perhaps censored) genocide in Sudan, Africa.
Janet Laurence has taken part in the environmental movement of the last 40 years, utilising her art as a mechanism to question the unbalanced relationship between humans and nature. In an age of materialism and mass-production, often in ignorance of its impact on the Earth, Laurence's installations and photomedia with its inherent environmental sensitivity is a breath of much-needed fresh air. Her work "Liquid Green" (2003) is a series of images presented on Duraclear (acrylic sheet on glass panels) which convey our unhealthy interaction with nature through colour and symbolism. The images appear to be geometrically shaped hedges, addressing our physical manipulation/control of the landscape. Our relationship with nature is further inspected in Laurence's application of fluorescent green pigmented oils, connotative of toxins and various chemicals; the artificial. Extending outwards from the wall, the panels invite the eye to make a slow journey across the artwork, creating a reflective and meditative experience for the viewer. It is this aspect of Laurence's work that separates her from typical enthusiastic activists - she is subtle and reserved in her execution and thus the reaching of a wider audience in her communication of environmental awareness. "Natural History" (2008), uses a similar technique but in the form of an installation. A number of glass vials - the vessels of carbonised organic specimens, blackened by the heat of the glass-blowing process - sit in holders like test tubes, their image reflected by the mirror below. In the inclusion of the mirror, Laurence is inviting the audience to take another look at not only the damaged plants on display, but our own involvement in Earth's rising temperatures. "Natural History" offers a glimpse into a darker future by displaying such specimens, but its medical set-up asks for healing and prevention, moving beyond the simple shock of a not-so-distant reality. Not yet concerned for the environment, Modernist Edouard Manet was more intent on breaking the social and artistic boundaries that surrounded everyday life and practice. Manet's female nudes are famous for their controversial depiction of the figure, touching on the subject of the much concealed courtesan culture within Paris at the time. His paintings "Le Déjeuner sur L'herbe" (1863) and "Olympia" (1863) were both ridiculed at the Salon des Refuses for their 'childish' painting style, but especially the female nude's placement in an everyday scene. In "Le Déjeuner...", the subject sits in the company of two fully clothed men on a picnic in the forest, her clothes placed casually at the side indicating their purposeful removal. She stares directly at the viewer as a modern, liberated woman, unlike previous submissive incarnations such as Titian's "Venus of Urbino" (1538). Her form is pale with minimal toning, contrasting heavily with the glowing goddesses and nymphs that were expected under artistic conventions. "Olympia" is similar in its approach, portraying a prostitute lying on a bed in the company of a French-African maid and a black cat. She too makes direct eye-contact with the viewer, confronting them with a reality common to the Bourgeois class. As a Realist Manet himself stated, "I paint what I see, and not what others like to see" and this is evident in the provocative, yet real representations of the female nude, which underlines and questions the role of the voyeur in art - previously unexplored territory in 19th Century France. Contemporary artist Vanessa Beecroft delves further into the issue of voyeurism in her use of the live female figure, its raw quality as a result able to challenge/address human nature. Vanessa Beecroft's performances have allowed the Italian artist to investigate the often unexplored history between the female nude and the audience. "VB55" (2005) saw her assembly of 100 nude models - all similar in appearance - on display in front of a large crowd: "I like to display nudity to provoke the fear of embarrassment or confusion of the audience." (Beecroft). Her work has been described by some as 'shocking', 'disturbing' and 'empowering', revealing the success of what is essentially an artistic social experiment that the models' presence in a formal setting directly confronts viewers with commentary on the male gaze and desire. Journalist Nick Johnstone eloquently summarised the effect of her work in his quote,"As a culture right now, we're a mass of contradictions and, like all great art, Vanessa Beecroft's performances beam that uncomfortable truth right back at us." The 'uncomfortable truth' is also revealed in "VB61" (2007), a performance which addresses our desensitisation to violent imagery (due to its overhaul in the media), using the Darfur genocide as a relevant platform to convey the unspoken message. 30 women lie piled motionless on a blank canvas, covered in dark make-up while the artist splashes buckets of red paint over there bodies to a speechless audience. There is no denying that the display is a simple simulation of the graphic, and visceral reality of mass loss-of-life which when placed right in front of you, cannot be ignored. Using her role as an artist, Beecroft is aware of her artwork's ability to voice the unspeakable to an audience, and is a platform that artist's like Manet and Laurence have also exploited themselves. In the words of Marcel Duchamp, "I don't believe in art, I believe in artists" there is an element which rings true: the role of artist's as intellectuals, giving them the power to challenge mainstream values and conventions. This has been achieved by artists Janet Laurence, Edouard Manet and Vanessa Beecroft, all of whom have said "what would otherwise remain unsaid" in their exploration of issues such as our threat to the environment, courtesan culture, voyeurism and violence. Thus, artist's and their work are vital to advancing change within society through discussion of topics which can be difficult to discuss with mere words. |