Gender and Sexuality in Meret Oppenheim's Performance Art
(2010) Cultures of Modernity; The International Federation for Theatre Research- Abstract
- What is woman’s role in the modernist avant-garde? Feminist art historians have long criticised the dominant masculinity of modernism. The problem, as I see it, is the unreflecting way in which history is written, and the way in which women are squeezed into theoretic models that really only affirm, and cater primarily for, men. The German-Swiss artist Meret Oppenheim (1913-1985) has been described, ad nauseam, as the muse of the surrealists. This paper discusses Oppenheim’s work as an early form of feminist performance art. The sexuality and corporeality of Oppenheim’s oeuvre emerged from modernist happenings and other boundary-crossing art genres that were characterised by a close relationship to both gender and sexuality. Throughout the... (More)
- What is woman’s role in the modernist avant-garde? Feminist art historians have long criticised the dominant masculinity of modernism. The problem, as I see it, is the unreflecting way in which history is written, and the way in which women are squeezed into theoretic models that really only affirm, and cater primarily for, men. The German-Swiss artist Meret Oppenheim (1913-1985) has been described, ad nauseam, as the muse of the surrealists. This paper discusses Oppenheim’s work as an early form of feminist performance art. The sexuality and corporeality of Oppenheim’s oeuvre emerged from modernist happenings and other boundary-crossing art genres that were characterised by a close relationship to both gender and sexuality. Throughout the happenings of modernism up to the present day, women artists, regardless of whether they declared themselves feminists or not, have presented their view of how culture exposes and perceives women’s bodies with the aid of a explicit, clearly stated and exhibit body. This paper argues that Oppenheim’s oeuvre represents a proto-feminist guerrilla performance that has become influential in the feminist enactment of gender and sexuality. With her objects and happenings she manages to draw the viewer’s attention to various dissonances that are frequently gender-specific and often relate to women. History can be conquered from many different perspectives. One is to focus on Oppenheim’s work in a feminist context. That would help to disperse the myth of Oppenheim as the muse of the male surrealists. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1623673
- author
- Rosenberg, Tiina LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2010
- type
- Contribution to conference
- publication status
- unpublished
- subject
- keywords
- feminist historiography, avantgarde, performance art, modernism, Meret Oppenheim
- conference name
- Cultures of Modernity; The International Federation for Theatre Research
- conference location
- München, Germany
- conference dates
- 2010-07-26 - 2010-07-31
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- c2c5ab15-832f-4264-9042-b9a6c888535e (old id 1623673)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 14:07:55
- date last changed
- 2018-11-21 21:18:27
@misc{c2c5ab15-832f-4264-9042-b9a6c888535e,
abstract = {{What is woman’s role in the modernist avant-garde? Feminist art historians have long criticised the dominant masculinity of modernism. The problem, as I see it, is the unreflecting way in which history is written, and the way in which women are squeezed into theoretic models that really only affirm, and cater primarily for, men. The German-Swiss artist Meret Oppenheim (1913-1985) has been described, ad nauseam, as the muse of the surrealists. This paper discusses Oppenheim’s work as an early form of feminist performance art. The sexuality and corporeality of Oppenheim’s oeuvre emerged from modernist happenings and other boundary-crossing art genres that were characterised by a close relationship to both gender and sexuality. Throughout the happenings of modernism up to the present day, women artists, regardless of whether they declared themselves feminists or not, have presented their view of how culture exposes and perceives women’s bodies with the aid of a explicit, clearly stated and exhibit body. This paper argues that Oppenheim’s oeuvre represents a proto-feminist guerrilla performance that has become influential in the feminist enactment of gender and sexuality. With her objects and happenings she manages to draw the viewer’s attention to various dissonances that are frequently gender-specific and often relate to women. History can be conquered from many different perspectives. One is to focus on Oppenheim’s work in a feminist context. That would help to disperse the myth of Oppenheim as the muse of the male surrealists.}},
author = {{Rosenberg, Tiina}},
keywords = {{feminist historiography; avantgarde; performance art; modernism; Meret Oppenheim}},
language = {{eng}},
title = {{Gender and Sexuality in Meret Oppenheim's Performance Art}},
year = {{2010}},
}