Tate Modern: Different Perspectives on Femininity

    Tate Modern is an institution in which fine and contemporary art fuse together to create an engaging conversation with its public audience, as many of the exhibitions within Tate Modern generate a social mirror that is reflectant of public interests, while at the same time challenges ideologies and promotes critical analysis. As I walked through the exhibitions of Tate Modern, it became apparent that a recurring theme of many artists, in particular, George Condo, Sanja Ivekovic, and Valerie Mrejen, was femininity and how it can be interpreted in a multitude of ways.

   One of the first exhibitions that I explored was by artist George Condo. Looking at each of his artworks, I was immediately intrigued by the animalistic interpretation of women, as their bodies possessed natural feministic traits, yet many of their heads were distorted and at times subhuman. Upon further research, I learned that Condo describes this form of artistic expression as psychological cubism and artificial realism, stating "I try to depict a character's train of thoughts simultaneously - hysteria, joy, sadness, desperation. If you could see these things at once that would be like what I'm trying to make you see in my art" (The Guardian, 2014). By depicting women in this manner, Condo suggests a new layer of feminity, one that is multifaceted and encompasses not only the female body but is cognizant of human emotion.

   Condo's exhibition ignited a newfound curiosity within me, as I began to question how femininity was interpreted in other forms of artwork and mediums. Along my exploration of the museum, I came across an exhibition titled, Feminism and Media. Looking around at the different artworks, I was immediately lured into a video display created by Sanja Ivekovic and Valerie Mrejen. Side by side, these two television sets played videos centered around stereotypical female interests. The first video is a nine-minute film created by Sanja Ivekovic titled, Make-up - Make-down. The subject of the video is an unidentified woman putting on make-up. However, the primary focus of the video is not the woman herself, but rather the way in which she handles and applies the make-up. According to Ivekovic, the "application of the make-up is a discreet activity performed between the mirror and myself... the TV-message is received in the isolation of a private space. The everyday movements that I make up are slowed down, thereby giving to the ordinary act of applying make-up the character of a ritual performance" (Ivekovic, 1998). By shifting the focus from the woman to make-up and the application process, Ivekovic is challenging society's ideologies regarding feminity and beauty. Similarly, Valerie Mrejen strikes a similar message in her short film, Manufrance. Intentionally placed next Ivekovic's, Manufrance mirrors a similar message as the video explores of the day to day life of a housewife, highlighting the isolation and misconceptions of femininity. Together these films create a large social mirror, in which the audience is able to reflect how they view women in the media and challenge their own ideologies of what it means to be feminine.