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n.paradoxa

Artworks by women artists on 30 topics
related to Feminism and Contemporary Art

Introduction

About this topic: Nude/Naked

These works explore the genre of the nude, epitomised in Venus or Olympia, and many pull apart or parody the nude as a "convention" in painting and in sculpture. The contract in these conventions about the "perfect body", an idealised form, adopting a certain pose and a presumed relationship between the artist and their subject is questioned. When the nude body is also that of the artist, another dimension is added to how her naked female body is commonly viewed in terms of a "genre". The aim of many of these works is to overturn subject/object; passive/active distinctions. However, when a woman artist directs other women to perform nude for her, does she reinforce the conventions of the nude or challenge them?

  1. Jana Zelibska (Slovakia) Possibilities of Uncovering: Venus (1967) wood, mirror, plastic, golden pigment 120 x 360 cm     


  2. Rose Garrard (UK) Circle (1970) performance at Paternoster Square, City of London      


  3. Tania Mouraud (France) Mine Not I, People Call me Tania Mouraud. Which of these Bodies are they referring to? (1971 - 1974) photographic mandalas      


  4. Sylvia Sleigh (USA) Philip Golub Reclining (1971) oil on Canvas, 42” x 62”     Private collection 


  5. Barbara T. Smith (USA) Nude Frieze (1971) performance, documented in photos      


  6. Eleanor Antin (USA) Carving: A Traditional Sculpture (1972) 148 gelatin silver prints and text panel, Each photograph: 17.7 x 12.7 cm (7 x 5 in.); Text panel: 39.4 x 26 cm (15 1/2 x 10 1/4 in.); 79.4 X 518.2 cm (31 1/4 x 204 in.), installed     


  7. Friederike Pezold (Pezoldo) (Austria, Germany) Die neue leibhaftige Zeichensprache (1973 - 1977) film, photographic, multiple works      


  8. Martha Wilson (USA) Cauterization (1974) performance, recorded on video   V-Tape  


  9. Shigeko Kubota (USA) Nude Descending a Staircase (1975 - 1976) video work, DVD, 4 projections installed in wooden staircase 170 x 80 x 170cm     


  10. Suzy Lake (USA) The Natural Way to Draw (1975) performance, recorded on video      


  11. Cosey Fanni Tutti (UK) Confessions of a Shop Assistant (1975) magazine, included in Coum (ICA, 1976), remade as limited edition book in 2003      


  12. Esther Ferrer (France, Spain) Intime et personnel (1977) 12 black and white photos  40 x 30 cm each    Frac Lorraine, Metz 


  13. Melanie Howard (Australia) Portrait of an Artist as a Nude (1977) performance at Experimental Art Foundation event       see Anne Marsh Body and Self (1993)


  14. Kirsten Justesen (Denmark) Sculpture #1 (1978) painted 3 D box, with photo printed on top 50 x 60 x 60 cm     


  15. Jo Spence and Terry Dennett (UK) Remodelling Photo History series (1979 - 1982) gelatin silver print     Jo Spence Memorial Archive 


  16. Isabella Gustowska (Poland) Relative Features of Ressemblance (1979 - 1984) photo-print on paper, drawing      


  17. Louise Bourgeois (South Africa, The Netherlands) Femme Couteau (1982) polished black marble 5.5 x 30.5 x 8 ins     


  18. Marilena Preda Sanc (Romania) My body is Space in Space, Time in Time and Memory of All (1983 - 1985) interventions on photographs dimensions variable     


  19. Rachel Field (UK) Real Lemon (1990 - 1992) painting series, Real Lemon about lesbian representation      


  20. Lotta Antonsson (Sweden) This Girl has Inner beauty (1990) C-print 3 pieces, each 47.3 x 36.4 cm    Moderna Museet 


  21. Zofia Kulik (Poland) Gotyk Miedzy-Narodwy / Inter-national Gothic (1990) photograph  242 x 150 cm     


  22. Sarah Lucas (UK) Fat, Forty and Flabulous (1990) photocopy on paper 214.5 x 312.5 cm     


  23. Lorraine O'Grady (USA) Gaze 1 and Gaze 2 (1991) black and white photomontage 24 x 20     


  24. Laura Aguilar (USA) In Sandy's Room (1993) black and white photograph      


  25. Jenny Saville (UK) Plan (1993) oil on canvas 274.5 x 213.5 cm     


  26. Elisabet Apelmo (Sweden) I am not naked (1994) video/dvd 6.35 min     


  27. Laurie Toby Edison (USA) Women en Large (1994) series of black and white gelatin silver prints of naked large women, also book dimensions variable     


  28. Anna Alchuk (Russia) Figures of the Law II (1995 - 2003) photo-series of 12 plus statements 40 x 30 cm each, 2 posters with text 90 x 60 cm     


  29. Victoria Vesna, Rob Nideffer, Nathaniel Freitas (USA) Bodies@Incorporated (1996 - 1999) website/ project   Bodies Incorporated Website  


  30. Kataryzna Kozyra (Poland) Olimpia/Olympia (1996) 3 color photographs  240 x 150, 120 x 180 cm  National Museum in Cracow  


  31. Eva Wohlgemuth (Austria) Body Scan (In/Out) (1997 - 2005) 3D scan, computer rendering in 2D/3D, VRML      


  32. Mary J. Kerr (USA) I am NOT a Fertility Goddess (1998) pencils on paper 7 x 10 ins.     


  33. Gina Czarnecki (UK) Stages, Elements, Humans (1999) digital video installation      


  34. Gulsun Karamustafa (Turkey) Fragmenting/FRAGMENTS (1999) photographic panels presented as wall/floor installation      


  35. Vanessa Beecroft (USA) VB48 721 DR (2001) digital colour print of performance event at Kunsthalle, Wien  360 x 480 cm     


  36. Barbara de Genevieve (USA) The Panhandler Project (2004 - 2006) photographs and a 50 minute video documenting the photoshoots      


  37. Maria Lassnig (Austria) Zweifel (Doubts) (2004 - 2005) Oil on canvas 207 x 150 cm / 81 1/2 x 59 in     


  38. Nurhan Qehaja (Kosovo) The Flag (2006) video 5 min 5 sec