In 1925 Otto Dix completed a painting of a friend and performing artist titled, The Portrait of the Dancer Anita Berber. At first glance it appears Dix portrays Berber in a harsh and negative light, however upon a closer look at the personal, public and artistic lives of both artists one can glean that Dix represented Berber more fondly and favorably than many of his other portraits of working women.
The Portrait of the Dancer Anita Berber confronts the viewer with a fire engine red color scheme that is close to monochromatic. Berber wears a slinky fitted dress that hugs and accentuates her body. The dress material bunches and stretches leading the viewer’s eyes throughout her body. Dix stated that “the essence of every person is expressed on the outside; the outside is the expression of the inside- That is, the outside and the inside are identical. That goes so far that even the folds in a persons clothing, their attitude, their hands, their ears immediately give the painter information about the soul of a model, often more so than the eyes and the mouth.” Her posture is graceful and confrontational yet detached as she turns her head to look away from the viewer. The image ends at her knees. A high turtleneck plays up her thin neck. The background
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The title indicates she is young, yet Dix characteristically aged her with drooping breasts and a worn out appearance. The young girl’s genitals are exposed and her back is to the viewer. It is as if the viewer is peeking in on the girl. She is seemingly unaware of the viewer, and therefore the viewer has the power in the scene. Compared to Girl in Front of the Mirror, Berber’s portrait conveys a woman that is rounded, healthy and somewhat youthful. While the image of Berber is sensual and sexual, it is not lewd or unabashedly centered around sex. Berber confronts the viewer with her posture and body language, maintaining power over the
These types of art allow themselves to free their mind and show what there feeling in a way that is non physical. In the text, Melinda does eventually learn to use a kind of art as a coping method which is when she creates a comfortable place for herself in a janitors closet in the school.” “The first thing to go is the mirror. It is screwed to the wall, so I cover it with a poster of Maya Angelou” (50). Since the mirror is screwed to the wall represents that Melinda is unable to escape herself and all the trauma that is inside of her.
Philips establishes the sewing woman's appearance underneath her mask of makeup as unappealing in order to contrast what an individual craves for in life to what
Perfectly sculpted bodies and smiles whiter than fresh snow. She, and many others like her, have stopped being able to express their own individuality. Instead they try so hard to conform to society’s expectations. A scene where this can be seen can be found on page 46. “ And suddenly she was so strange he couldn’t believe he knew her at all.
One example of the imagery is “He is wearing red, like the inside of the body exposed. I am wearing the dark fur, the whole skin of an animal.” The woman notes the significant differences in clothing. Clothing is an indication of your status in society. In this line, the woman’s high fashioned-clothing sets
and The Blue Woman in a Black Chair sculptures have demonstrate the various expressions sculptors can evoke. Through the usage of an approachable, engraved pedestal, the built bronze color and detailed outer aesthetics, Ana Koh-Varilla and Jeffrey Varilla convey the dynamic message of the profound ideas Mr. King presented decades ago and the eternal impact those compelling principles will have for decades to come. Segal, on the other hand strays away from an idealistic approach for exchange of expressing the realistic behaviors of life. Through the placement of the drapery, the tranquil blue color, and ambiguous form of the quiet figure, Segal highlights the relatable sedentary behavior of slouching, inwardly focusing on one’s self and one’s thoughts. In a quiet setting like the Blanton, Segal’s sculpture resonates with many individuals, however his art work was placed in an outside setting, there would be a barrier in embracing and fully connecting with the sculpture at
The young girl who is the protagonist in the story asks “How do I look?” several times throughout. Every time she gets a new dress she is in need to know how she looks in it. This quote is portraying women in negative ways because it makes them seem like they have low self esteem and need approval for how they look. This is a stereotypical outline of a female.
In the 1980s, the world experienced many social changes and throughout the United States, social and foreign issues occupied the Post-Vietnam community. In Thomas Boyle’s “Greasy Lake,” he focuses his writing on the many societal issues that occupy the era in history and uses teenage experience to capture the horrors of the Vietnam war. With a New Historicist and Feminist lens, Boyle highlights the social issues of the 1980s by revealing the attitude towards the female characters and the role of the main protagonist in regard to social interactions after the Vietnam war. The 1980s marked the beginning of a new era in American history for the United States had pulled out of the Vietnam War; furthermore, Boyle takes advantage of this time period
1. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum In the Handmaid’s Tale, this is meant to be an unintelligible latin phrase later translated by the commander, meaning “don’t let the bastards grind you down”. June/Offred finds this carved into the floor of her closet by the preceding handmaid of the household. The commander invites Offred into his office at night to make her life more bearable.
Strange Fruit Among Southern Mary Lovelace O’Neal Painting Like A Man, Chapter 1, “Strange Fruit Among Southern Magnolias” (Excerpt) David Driskell and Howard University's Art Faculty Howard’s art faculty was also prominent but traditional and had a long appreciation in realistic renderings. They were conservative approach to painting and training artists to become teachers. O’Neal took a watercolor course from Lois Mailou Jones who O'Neal maintains hated her work. Jones had been recruited to Howard in 1930 from Palmer Memorial Institute in North Carolina where she had formed the department there.
Through the mirror, she looked at herself who was suffered from the pain and expressed it via painting. As the author mentioned, “Frida
Black Female Presence; Tennis and Dance In Claudia Rankine’s, Citizen, she addresses a various amount of relatable circumstances as an African American. Rankine addresses a specific black figure in America, Serena Williams, as an example of a resilient and strong black female athlete. Serena is one of the examples in which Rankine points out racial inequality, and microaggressions in sports, she also opens up about the stereotypes placed in front of Serena and the personas Serena had to play for years of her career. I've found that in both dance and tennis, black women have faced judgement from spectacle, competed with mostly white counterparts, and have had to consistently reclaim their undeniable contribution to the sport and art form.
She outlines her culture as something that is truly remarkable. During a time where society puts a strain on physical appearance, Silko proves that the meaning of beauty is something that has less to do with physical appearance and more to do with
Research Paper – Ruth St Denis There are many famous dancers and choreographers who have shaped modern dance and how it is performed nowadays. Ruth St Denis was without a doubt one of the most influential choreographers in the modern dance business and was the teacher of many successful dancers, who themselves reinvented modern dance and established new visions as well. One of her most notable impacts on modern dance was bringing ideas from eastern cultures into the western culture by incorporating them into her choreographies and performances. This research paper will explain how St Denis managed to influence how modern dance was performed and experienced with the observation of two of her dances.
This essay examines one of the many self-portrait paintings by Frida Kahlo called ‘broken column’ (1944). In this painting Kahlo portrays herself as a complete full bodied woman while also reflecting her broken insides. She stands alone against a surreal barren fissured landscape that echoes the open wound in her torso. A broken stone column replaces her damaged spine and is protected by a white orthopaedic corset, while sharp nails pierce into her olive naked flesh. Frida is partially nude except for the corset and white bandages.
His posture’s lean and slender. His skin was damp, wet like a moist baby skin. it 's also chalky pale as if it was malnourished and bloodless, no matter how much he had exposed his skin under the sun. His cheek blushed with pink when he smiled, to sum up, he looked like a male version of Princess Doll. No wonder if he hardly found his place among his neighbor boys who were born with coarse features, broad shoulder, and sunburned skin.