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n.paradoxa

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

Introduction

About this topic: Masquerade/Mask

The mask more clearly than any other motif provides a means to explore how femininity is constructed as a masquerade (following psychoanalyst, Joan Riviere, philosopher Simone de Beauvoir and critical theorist, Judith Butler) - something that must be "performed" or constructed daily as an appearance. The interrogation of the mask exposes femininity as a cultural construction - neither nature nor biology, but the product of historical and cultural specificity. Women artists deconstruct this "trope", breaking its impact and often exposing what is behind the mask or its making.

  1. Claude Cahun (with Marcel Moore) (UK, France) I.O.U. (Self-Pride) Aveux non Avenus (1929) photography      


  2. Teresa Burga (Peru) Autorretrato. Informe.Rostro (1972 - 2006) photographs      


  3. Ana Mendieta (USA, Cuba) Untitled (Glass on Body Imprints)  (1972 - 1997) photographs of performance surgery on face      


  4. Annette Messager (France) Les tortures volontaires/ Voluntary Tortures (1972) 86 gelatin silver prints, 1 album      


  5. Lynn Hershman (USA) Robert Breitmore's Construction Chart (1973) photographs/drawing      


  6. Martha  Wilson (USA) I Make Up the Image of My Perfection/ I Make Up the Image of My Deformity  (1974) photo-series      


  7. Hannah Wilke (USA) Super T-Art  (1974) photo-series      


  8. Alexis Hunter (UK, New Zealand) Identity Crisis (Maquette)  (1974) photo-series      


  9. Rose Finn-Kelcey (UK) Study for Divided Self #1-3  (1974) Black and White silver gelatine print. 46.6 x 70 cm     


  10. Eleanor Antin (USA) The King of Solana Beach (1974) 11 black and white photos, mounted on board, 2 text panels, performance action     


  11. Annagret Soltau (Germany) Selbst  (1975) 14 photos, each 38 x 38 cm.      


  12. Ulrike Rosenbach (Germany) Weiblicher Energieaustausch, Venus, Medusa, Supergirl (1975 - 1976) 3 photos     Sammlung Verbund 


  13. Martha Rosler (USA) She sees in herself a new woman everyday (1976) Installation comprising twelve colour photographs and one audio recording (17 min. 21 sec.)   Reina Sofia  


  14. Katerina Thomadaki and Maria Klonaris (France, Greece) Double Exposure (1977) series of photographs of artist's self-portraits      


  15. Geta Bratescu (Romania) The Smile (1978) Photograph mounted on paper 23 x 40 cm, framed     


  16. Rachel Rosenthal (USA) The Arousing (Shock, Thunder) A Hexagram in Five Parts (1979) performance      


  17. Cindy Sherman (USA) Untitled Film Stills (1979) black and white photographic series      


  18. Lorna Simpson (USA) Stereo Styles (1988) 10 x black and white polaroids 24 x 20 ins each, whole, 64 x 116 ins.     


  19. Maud  Sulter (UK) Terpischore, Zabat series (1992) C-Print 60 x 48  Victoria and Albert Museum  


  20.  Orlan (France) Omnipresence: Seventh Surgery, New York (1993) photographs of performance surgery on face     FRAC, Pays de La Loire 


  21. Renee Cox (USA) Hot-en-Tot (1994) silver gelatin print 129.86 x 94.62 cm     


  22. Anna Alchuk with Alexei Geradzha (Russia) Double Game (1994) photo series      


  23. Lori Blondeau (Canada) Sqaw series (1996 - 1997) photos      


  24. Milica Tomic (Serbia) I am Milica Tomic (1998 - 1999) video, single channel      


  25. Berni Searle (South Africa) Snow White (2001) single channel video 6'2"      Johannesburg Art Gallery and Daimler Art Collection 


  26. Tejal Shah (India) Trans (2004 - 2005) 2 channel video, 12 min.      


  27. Tomoko Sawada (Japan) Masquerade (2006) C-prints each 6 cm x 6 cm     


  28. Teresa M. Diaz Nerio (Dominican Republic) Hommage a Sara Bartman (2007) video 20' and costume, leather, textile, 160 x 150 cm     


  29. Gillian Wearing (UK) Me as Cahun Holding a Mask of My Face (2012) framed bromide print, part of a series presenting herself as various artists 155.6 x 128.6 cm