Not your average fairytale
Senior Carolyn Stewart uses ‘Beauty and the Beast’ to explore gender roles in exhibit
Posted on January 17, 2008
At first glance, the works of art in room 2104 of The Gallery at Festival seem scarce. Bright track lights shine onto suspended panels, and glass cases house ancient relics throughout the room. However, soon after passing the first corner between the Egyptian bronze statue “Isis and Horus” and the gelatin print of “Los Tentaciones en Casa de Antonio,” it becomes clear that much more lies within these pieces.
Senior Carolyn Stewart’s exhibit, “Beauty and the Beast: Revealing Sexual Agency and the Female Body,” is divided into three sections exploring specific views, interpretations and representations of the nude female body throughout a multitude of cultures.
“In high school I took an A.P. art class and spent my spring break in Italy,” Stewart said. “It was then that I realized I wanted to work in those settings and be able to have hands-on experience with some of the most remarkable objects made by man.”
Viewers are first met with pieces exploring the parallel of humanity and divinity in “Between God and Man.” Divine motherhood connects the engraved copper plate of “Mary and Jesus,” Marc Chagall’s lithograph of “Antilopa Passengers” and the bronze ancient Egyptian statue of “Isis and Horus.” These were chosen to show the glory and power females have in connecting with God, sharing human experience and expending maternal love that perpetuates society.
“In the contemporary college setting, I think we’re constantly bombarded with marketing which uses the body and sex to advertise objects which are completely unrelated,” Stewart said. “So I became interested in how past cultures used the female body in visual media, and to what ends.”
In the title, Stewart uses the term “sexual agency” to refer to one’s personal control of their body and sexuality, and in the context of nude artwork, as how the woman is portrayed.
“More often than not the female body is used to reflect the erotic desires of the patron and artists, and is rarely about the sexuality of the woman herself,” Stewart said.
The section called “The Constructed Body” does a wonderful job of contrasting themes of exposure and concealment of the subjects, both physically and emotionally, through renditions of females consciously formulated by the artist. The print from Spanish artist Manuel Alvarez “Bravo” touches on a few surreal elements, with a naked woman partially covered by a white sheet hanging from a clothesline. The contrast of black and white tones reflect the paradox found in the “irony of modesty,” which can be found paralleled in classic paintings such as “The Birth of Venus.”
The most intriguing section, entitled “Wild Thing,” explores cultures that view women’s sexuality as dangerous if not regulated. A Japanese woodblock print from the turn of the century called “Yamamba” shows a woman unkempt, and portrayed in untraditional Japanese culture. This woman defies social norms and is shown having several animalistic characteristics that are both threatening and pitiful. An ancient Greek terracotta vase “Nuptial Oinochoe” and an engraved print from a Vatican fresco entitled the “Presentation of Eve” also warn of the evils of women’s sexuality and promote the purity and chastity values held in high regard in those cultures.
This is the first time The Gallery at Festival has had a student curate an exhibit since its opening in March 2007. It clearly shows that Stewart’s passion exceeds academic success and has translated to a very worthwhile exhibition.
