Museum exhibit emphasizes feminism, equality
As guests enter the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art and walk up the stairs, they are greeted by a red wall with large turquoise print that spells out “Female + Form”. Behind the wall, several photographs, geometric designs, abstract art, and paintings come into view.
“Female + Form” is one of five different exhibits currently housed in the museum and is curated by Deb Baneriee. Even though the museum isn’t open to the public right now, the display may be something to look forward to.
“The ‘Female + Form’ exhibit is special to the museum because it’s the first art exhibit here to be entirely dedicated to women artists and how they address certain issues through their work.” said Casey Allen, the museum’s registrar and webmaster.
Allen said the museum also tried to get works specifically from women of southern California to narrow down the focus and styles of the artists.
“It has over 50 artworks on display, and a majority of those artworks are from the museum’s personal collection,” said Allen. “The museum here on campus has its own art collection of over 5,000 works that have been collected since 1981. We continue to acquire new artworks every year and add them to our collection. It’s the reason why museums exist. It’s to acquire those things and to take care of them for the rest of time.”
This collection of artwork varies widely, including famous photographs by Jo Ann Callis in which she focuses on one specific object in each picture. She has captured pictures of common items, such as an eclair or a simple white bed sheet, and made them appear to be feminine and seductive.
Other artists whose work has been displayed are Ruth Bernhard, best known for her black-and-white nude photographs exploring different poses and figures, and the widely-known Guerilla Girls.
“The curator had wanted to do an exhibition of work by female artists, and the Guerilla Girls’ visit in September provided the perfect occasion,” said Rachel Middleman, assistant professor of art history. “The Guerilla Girls are an anonymous group of women who create performances and artworks about sexism and other forms of discrimination in the art world.”
According to Allen, the Guerilla Girls are anonymous and remain anonymous by taking the names of deceased female artists and only appearing in public when wearing gorilla masks.
According to the group’s website, the Guerilla Girls believe feminism is a fundamental way of looking at the world. Despite the gains for women equality in the past hundred years, the group adamantly believes misogyny and sexism run rampant throughout the world. Their works aim to put an end to these problems.
The Guerilla Girls will perform at the USU Performance Hall on Sept. 10 at 5 p.m.
Allen said the exhibit is special because it gives students the opportunity to research, study and present what they find as part of this real exhibition featuring the work of professional and historically relevant female artists.
“It has been installed, designed and labeled,” Allen said. “It’s done, but the students who are just meeting this week as part of an art history class, they are going to be researching each of those works that we have on display and each of those artists, and they’ll be presenting their information and their findings at a symposium that will be held in January during Arts Week. So they’ll actually get some real practical experience and what its like to work like an art historian, researching a particular artist or painting that everyone looks at. Ot
herwise the painting makes no sense, so the students figure out what it’s all about and how to translate it to a regular audience.”
Middleman said her students have not yet begun working with the exhibition, but she hopes they will be able to contribute some curatorial work when the museum reopens.
“The museum is closed right now to the general public, but we have new exhibitions on display that are ready to be seen,” Allen said. “If people do want to come in, they need to call the museum and plan a time in advance. We’re not just open in general like we usually have been.”
The museum has planned to reopen with regular hours of operation at the start of the spring 2014 semester. The museum will hold an opening reception for “Female + Form” on Oct. 24 from 5-7 p.m.
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