A new show is putting the nail in the coffin of art historical notions that the female in art is an “object”, rather than its, subject, viewer, or creator. Entitled Terrains of the Body, the show at east London’s Whitechapel Gallery opening this month presents a series of photographs Washington D.C’s National Museum of Women in the Arts by 17 contemporary artists from five different continents.
Among the artists featured are Marina Abramović, Nan Goldin, Icelandic Love Corporation, Shirin Neshat and Eve Sussman, forming a cohesive yet diverse study of contemporary female artists’ approach to their bodies, their media and themselves.
Daniela Rossell’s Medusa, from the “Ricas y famosas” series (1999) CREDIT: © DANIELA ROSSELL, COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND GREENE NAFTALI, NEW YORK
Nikki S. Lee The Hip Hop Project (1) 2001 © Nikki S. Lee Photo: Lee Stalsworth
Marina Abramović, The Hero, 2001. National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Heather and Tony Podesta Collection, Washington, D.C. © Marina Abramovic Archives Photo: Lee Stalsworth
Icelandic Love Corporation Where Do We Go from Here? 2000. © The Icelandic Love Corporation Photo: Lee Stalsworth
Nan Goldin Self-Portrait in Kimono with Brian, NYC, 1983 © Nan Goldin, Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery Photo: Lee Stalsworth
Hellen van Meene, Untitled (79), (2000), detail,National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Heather and Tony Podesta Collection, Washington, D.C. © Hellen van Meene and Yancey Richardson Gallery. Photo: Lee Stalsworth.
Terrains of the Body: Photography from the National Museum of Women in the Arts runs from 18 January – 16 April 2017, in Gallery 7 at Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High St, London E1 7QX