Progress: Real and Imagined(2006), Nicole Eisenman, Radical Figures (3)
Ann Philbin, the director at Hammer Museum once commented Nicole Eisenman’s works as the fierce, nasty queer-girl voice.
In recent days, although gender and queer motifs are often discussed in the art world; in this article, we will talk about an artist who challenges sexism by dedicating herself to creating works that express the voice of the queer and female.
Nicole Eisenman, a French artist who grew up in New York, is now based in Brooklyn. Eisenman had received many awards in her career, and in 2015, she had won the MacArthur Fellowship that is an annual prize for all creative creators from writers to artists. Winner will receive $625,000 to support their careers, and Eisenman was selected at that year for “restoring the representation of the human form a cultural significance that had waned during the ascendancy of abstraction in the 20th century”.
Furthermore, Nicole Eisenman has established a project with artist, A.L. Steiner, called Ridykeulous. As an organisation concerning the queer and feminist art in exhibitions and events.
Inspired by comics and pornography, Eisenman’s style is often sexual with a comedy sense. That her work always provides a fun, fantasy vibe, and the spectators will want to follow her lead and enter the female utopia.
Nevertheless, what is female utopia? While the stereotypes often portraits males are the brave and strong, females are gentle and sweet; Eisenman’s view of woman are all heroines. Although female can be soft and sweet, they are the ones that fight, hunt and have fun.
Take the painting above as an example; this is the right side of diptych, Progress: Real and Imagined. It represents to “Imagined”, as unreal as it is, I also consider this as a review of how people view female. Notably in Asian culture (my culture), we are taught to be conservative, and quiet; we will not be the ones who will handle the big gun like the woman portraited on the upper left corner.
In this painting, the female characters are the leading figures. Woman gives birth, woman leads, and the genie of the from the burger is a woman as well. Except for comics and pornography, pop culture has a big part of Eisenman’s paintings as well. The flying burgers have brought joy to the viewers and certify as a contemporary artwork.
Here’s an interesting article from Daily Art Magazine talking about the inspiration (from the old masters) of the artists from the Whitechapel’s Radical Figures exhibition.
Let’s talk about the left side; the figure represents the artist herself, creating at her studio. While this is the “Real”, her creativity has flooded the entire environment. The flowers in the vase on the right explode like fireworks. Pictures scattered as if the numerous ideas, the figure is very hardworking but also bending into an uncomfortable position, describing a tension of pressure.
I concern the diptych as a documentary of Eisenman’s progress of creating artworks. On the left, we can view the development of the artist’s creating artworks. While on the right is the finalise of her masterpiece. People say she challenges the gender image; which is her unique style; however, I consider it is also a label that Eisenman cannot take off. I believe while painting, the artist is also facing a lot of pressure to deliver new works to the public and acting as the voice for feminist and queer.
There are so many small details that worth discussing in the diptych, but I would like to leave some imagination space for all of the viewers. Just as the title of the painting, and what Eisenman encourages people to do. We should be all more open-minded and accept the differences, allowing the imagination which makes our life more enjoyable.
Her devotion and creative minds have opened up a new chapter in figure painting. Although it is not a new topic to talk about feminist and queer, Eisenman has presented a lot of fascinating works that worth view. Which she is a wonderful representative in the Radical Figures exhibition. Don’t miss out on the show!
Read More
- Bananas to Rescue! — Nicole Eisenman’s sticker pack about the pandemic, by Hilary Reid, Vulture
- MacArthur Fellowship — Nicole Eisenman
