Image - Self: Women in Art
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
A collection of 48 portraits of women in the Department of Art are on display in Hopkins Hall through January 19 as part of the "Image - Self: Women in Art," an exhibit to bring more awareness and recognition to female art majors.
Ardine Nelson, an art professor at Ohio Stateand 2008 Guggenheim Fellow Ardine Nelson developed the collaborative project with 23 students to address the question "How does one understand self through image?"
The women's images were initially captured as photographs by Nelson, who then challenged her students to manipulate their individual, large-format portraits. After soliciting participants in the spring, Nelson conducted five photo sessions from June through October. The project yielded more than 40 original works by artists of all experience levels, first-quarter freshmen to recent graduates, studying virtually every concentration in the Department of Art.
Guisela LaTorre, associate professor, Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, said the project allowed the participants the opportunity to express the way they see themselves, rather than how others perceive them.
"Given the abundance of sexist, objectifying and even violent images of women in the mass media, this project allowed students to take control of their own representation," LaTorre said.
The exhibition is supported by the Coca-Cola Critical Difference for Women Faculty Grant through the Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, the Arts and Humanities Grant-In-Aid Program, and the Department of Art.
The portraits appear in an online exhibition and will be on display at the Upper Arlington Concourse Gallery March – April, 2011.
