VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN WESTERN ART: Lecture & Panel Discussion

Join THE BIG ART HERSTORY PROJECT for a unique lecture with accompanying panel discussion that poses the simple question;

Why is there SO much violence against women depicted in Western Art History?

Hosted in the stunning 12th Floor Project space at Waterloo by V.0. Curations, this lecture will take place amid a backdrop of new works by contemporary Nigerian artist Sola Olulode. Sola's recent works investigate and reframe queerness and black identity, disrupting the heteronormative gaze and questioning narratives of oppression of queer bodies.

From the ubiquitous depictions of the beautiful nymphs of Greek Mythology, to the obsession with female christian martyrs, the orientalist imagery so prevalent throughout the 1800s, even the use of illustration and mass media as a social weapon, whether we recognise it or not, violence against women is EVERYWHERE in art history.

The victim-blaming, romanticised, colonial and heteronormative approach that so many (male) artists have taken to the depiction of Gender-Based-Violence is so ubiquitous that there is an entire genre dedicated to the style; the HEROIC RAPE genre.

This lecture and the panel discussion that accompanies it invites you to learn some of the dark truths behind our 'high culture', with a visual presentation of some of the most troubling images in art history, and some of the most famous ones to boot. We will examine the traditions and contextual histories behind the near ubiquitous depictions of rape in greek myth, the ideas behind the extreme levels of violence perpetrated on female saints, and the tropes of 'otherness' and colonialisation of the bodies of women of colour throughout Art History, from the orientalist movement to the tragic story of Saartjie Baartman. (Colloquially known as the Hottentot Venus)

Your lecturer Luisa-Maria MacCormack will also be covering some of the incredible feminist interventions and activist art projects that female artists have created to add their voices to these ongoing debates - these include Kara Walker, Suzanne Lacy, Maria Abramovic and more. We will also explore the works of Sola Olulode in relation to the long tradition of female artists reclaiming positive spaces within the art world, reframing their own narratives through their work.

The following panel discussion with our team of experts will allow us to become part of this conversation, to share thoughts and ideas and create a movement for positive change within Art-History.

In relation to Sola's paintings, our panelists will also be investigating how gender violence contributes to the repression of queer identities and bodies.

Panelists:

-FRANCES HEDGES, Deputy Editor of Harper's Bazaar

-BOLANLE TAJUDEEN, Founder of BlackBlossoms and Art in the Age of Black Girl Magic

-DAISY DIXON, Artist and Philosopher extraordinaire of Cambridge University

-LUISA-MARIA MACCORMACK, Artist and Founder of London Drawing Group and The Big Art Herstory Project

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