art

Sculptor Louise Bourgeois created an array of surreal images in her career, many of which address psychological phenomena in physically mutated or twisted figurative forms. But perhaps Bourgeois, nicknamed "Spiderwoman," will be remembered by much of the public who encountered her work for placing dozens of giant bronze spiders worldwide. She died last week, aged 98.

Image: Pam Halpert from The Office, in front of her watercolors

The Office is a show that focuses on men–four out the five stars are male. Nonetheless, it’s one of my very favorite shows, and I think it has strong, likable, interesting female characters. It’s launched the career of Mindy Kaling, who writes for the show and plays the totally hilarious Kelly Kapoor. And it’s got Pam Halpert (formerly Pam Beesley), whom I like quite a bit. Over the series, she has grown quite assertive, a admirable quality not usually rewarded in women. But her early independent ambition for art has been abandoned so that her professional identity can be attached to her husband Jim Halpert’s.

A commentary on the way women and girls experience violence worldwide, Off the Beaten Path: Violence, Women, and Art is an exhibit of work by thirty contemporary artists currently on display at Art Works for Change in Oslo, Norway.

Blank Noise Project works to end eve teasing (street harassment) in India by reclaiming public space for women through direct action and artistic projects intended to raise awareness.

Sign Location: Joggers Park in Mumbai (Photograph by Manu)

In keeping with the art theme from yesterday's post, here are a few artsy ladies who are creating a scene of their own in the Islamic world.

 

France's Centre Pompidou houses the largest collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe, so the banishment of male artists for an entire year is quite an expression of solidarity with women in the art world.

So...I'm reading Little Bee by Chris Cleave, but why am I thinking about Wally Lamb and Arthur Golden?

This comes on the heels of my previous post about art and domestic violence.

John Waters' pop art portrayal of the relationship between Ike and Tina Turner is all-too-accurate.

...but you would be wrong.

Young Jean Lee pushes and pulls the lines of cross cultural theater in her critically acclaimed, "The Shipment."