The Fourth Wave: A Feminist Series (Pt. 1)

Barbara Kruger, Untitled (We Don’t Need Another Hero), 1987.

Hello all, Steph here. This is a new series I'm starting that basically shows appreciation for some of my favourite feminist artists throughout history. Aside from my own personal experiences with gender discrimination, a big part of what influenced my feminism are artists I stumbled upon at galleries, learnt about in school or just came across through personal research.

I think it's also relevant for me to explain the title of this series as it has some historical context which  as it should, informs the series itself. "The Fourth Wave" refers to the hypothetical fourth-wave in the feminist movement. There have been 3 waves so far, the first occurring in the late 19th century and early 20th century. It was focused on allowing women the right to vote alongside other legal issues. The second (which I would say is the OG wave and really pioneered and opened up many avenues and leeways for feminism) was focused on key issues like giving women the right to decide on abortion, gender roles, patriarchy, sexuality and domestic violence. The second-wave was a lot more blatant and explicit taking place between the 60s and the 80s and coinciding with the "Swinging 60s" that heralded a non-conformist movement in terms of drugs, sexuality and social constructions in general, making it the perfect time for in-your-face feminism. Finally, the third wave, which started in the 90's and is still going on has taken everything from the second wave and added unequal wage distribution and a focus on women from BAME (Black Asian Minority Ethnic) groups and their struggle with both race and gender. It's also paid attention to the LGBTQ community and their battle within this white, cis, supremacist, patriarchal world we live in. So my title "the fourth wave" is majorly just a play on the sequence of the waves and an attempt to encompass all the waves into one term. 

GIFT SHOP HACK FOR THE BROKE ART LOVER

Every gallery visit without fail, I spend about an hour and a half in the gift shop deciding whether or not I really need a giant rubber band ball or a dish towel with Frida Khalo's face on it. Ngl It really does get awkward - especially when you've been in the only one at the store for ages and the cashier is looking like you like when the hell are you going to buy something. Upon self reflection and snide commentary -courtesy of friends who have had the opportunity to accompany me to gift shops- I have learned that I truly truly am an indecisive person.

After about an hour in the store, the window for just "browsing" has pretty much deteriorated and it occurs to me that I actually have to buy something now otherwise I will look like a total crazy person. Drumroll & enter postcards. Honestly postcards are gift from the art lords. I make it a point to get at least 3 from every gallery I visit. It's great because my bank statement suggests I can't really afford to buy original art right now and so post cards are really the  only best option financially. 

I usually stick them all over the walls of my dorm room  for inspiration (bye bye deposit) and now some of my friends actually go out of their way to get me some whenever they get the chance! I thought I would show you guys a few of my favourites from my growing collection.

Enjoy!

Eme

 Chemistry Fume Cabinet, Thomas Struth 2010

ART = POWER

An article by Ebube Onoh

(Visual art for the visually impaired- The BLIND series) Self portrait by Roy Nachum 2009

Power. Its definition in the Webster dictionary is "the ability or right to control people or things". So presumably, it can be said that anyone who by whatever means can control or influence a person/people or things possesses power. 

When we think of beings with power, we think of glorious beings, be it those spoken of in Greek and Norse mythologies or others that have been worshipped over the centuries or those we see in comic books and their movie adaptations. When we think of a man with power and we think of advanced strength, super speed and other abnormal biological advantages that give these beings power over others, we know these things are but figments of our imagination and that they are not real. This doesn't mean that superpowers don't exist, they do and are very much around us. 

DECIEVE THE EYE

First of I'd like to give a big shoutout to my girl J for being a sport & letting me paint her. Pretty sure she was questioning her friendship with me half way through lol. (J If you're reading this love me please).

Anywho, here’s a little treat for you guys! I’ve made a little video of a fun experiment I did recently. This project was largely inspired by the artist Alexa Meade. She is an artist who specializes in painting real life 3D objects/ people and creating an illusion which turns them into two dimensional expressive paintings. She actually has a youtube channel which I definitely recommend you have a look at. She describes her paintings as a reverse Trompe-L’Oeil.

"Unlike a traditional Trompe-L'oeil painting which tricks the eye into thinking a 2D canvas might be a real 3D space, I do the opposite: I take the 3D world and create the illusion that it is a 2D painting."

In this little experiment I do my take on Alexa Meade’s unique style!

-Eme