Semester 2

Finally handed in my essay it is such a relief to have that receipt in your hand!

I have been writing about the Transgression of Identity and persona in art,which took me on an exploration of some interesting artists and how they incorporate their identity into their art work. I looked at Pablo Picasso who has references to the mythical Harlequin and the Minotaur in many of his paintings, he was a typical red blooded Spaniard. He was also inspired by African masks which led him to create Les demoiselles de Avignon and the Cubist movement.


I found a book of photographs in the library called Maske by Phylis Galembo which has some very bizarre masks still used and revered by African tribes today, and believed to be possessed by ancestral spirit guides. They are really creative, some are really haunting and intriguing some are playful and humorous.



I looked at the notorious Tracey Emin who tells it like it is and people don`t like it, her work or the celebrity status it has led her to. I was more concerned with her personal identity and how she used it to produce her work with all the gory details in a open honest way as opposed to surreptitiously hiding it within the work.

 NO chance 1999
 She uses everyday objects, mementos and domestic skills to make her work.

 Gillian Wearing assumes other peoples identity by making exact replica bodysuits from silicone, make up and clothes. She used old photos of her own family members, staged herself in the same scene and had a new photograph taken to explore the imprint these people had on her life.

 As her Father As herself aged 4

She also advertised for people to come and "confess all "on video whilst wearing a mask and was inundated with replies, we do not always know the true identity behind the persona we adopt for everyday life. Her most recent work is a film called Self made currently being shown around the UK, I was annoyed that I missed its closest to me screening in Stamford last year.

Who are we – and who do we think we are? How do we make the selves we present to the world – and who are we really, underneath the social masks we wear every day? These are some of the questions posed by Self Made, an extraordinary debut feature by acclaimed British artist Gillian Wearing.
http://selfmade.org.uk/


Cindy Sherman "loves to dress up" she assumes different identities some that society appears to expect us to assume. The photo on the right shows a middle aged woman`s use of concealer when applying her make-up to hide the dark circles and shadows! Pretty much sums up how I feel when wearing make-up.




It has been quite an interesting journey writing about identity and I am looking forward to exploring it more, we all have imprints made on us by other people throughout our lives it forms who we are, what we become and how we behave. We are forever growing and changing and our understanding of who we are changes as we get older and wiser.