Bubblegum Club

Tag: female form

  • Love is a Difficult Blue // Cathartic Moments in Collaborative Practice with Ghada Amer & Reza Farkhondeh

    Washes of colour bleed into pools of pleasure. Delicately drawn and intricately articulated. Forms of flesh emerge from thread. The intersection of love and lust. Interjected by a moment of escape from a solitary echo-chamber. Lured by siren call of paint and brush – lifting the veil of separation. Transitioning from viewer to maker. Transgressing from one space to another. Liberation from the binding constructs of one’s own perception, into another dimension.

    The moment Reza Farkhondeh put paint to one of Ghada Amer’s canvases he experienced a cathartic release. An instant free from his own practice. At the time she was away traveling,on seeing what he had done, she was initially shocked and upset. However, over time she warmed to the collective piece. Reza described the experience as “a meeting of two minds…You can create and also watch – you are a part of it, but also not.” The dynamic tension between presence and separation is integral to their collaborative practice.

    Since the early 2000’s they have explored a relationship founded on trust and reciprocity. While working out of their studio in Harlemthey still maintain individual identities and autonomy while engaging in collaborative space. Navigating this can at times be challenging. However, overtime Ghada and Reza have carved tools to combat conflict. Combined authorship is at the crux of their decision-making process. The two artists flip a coin to see who will place their signature above the other’s and hold a secret ballot to decide which of the works are finished. If the outcome does not reveal two affirmative votes, then the piece is further worked into. These democratic systems are used as effective tools to avoid potential moments of tension and ensure a fair trade.

    Their current show, Love is a Difficult Blue opened at Goodman’s Cape Town Gallery on the 18th of January and runs through to the 24th of February.The work explores notions of women and nature as both bearers of life – captured within an industrial patriarchal system of exploitation and oppression. Ghada enlists the female form as an archetypal icon – constructed from an amalgam of images. She uses these bodies, charged with notions of desire, to subvert stereotypes created by the white western male gaze. Intentionally provocative, the figures act as catalysts for conversation around the conventions of art.

    Her use of thread and embroidery stemmed from a frustration around not having access to the ‘man’s world’ of painting. In an interview with Brett Littman she recalled that in 1991 she decided that, “in order for me to paint, I would need to come up with my own technique – which was using the traditional women’s technique of sewing.” Reza describes the forms as “mechanical woman” – rooted in reproduction and systematically flattened through the process of embroidery. This connects to the historical erasure of women and female artists in the western cannon – something Ghada experienced in the curriculum while studying at École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts à la Villa Arson in France.

    This art school also happened to be the site at which they met, in 1988. At the time, Reza was completing a MFA in video and short film. Prior to his engagement with images of the natural world, he worked on a series called Made in China. The series of oil paintings depicted objects that appeared in Dollar Stores – all worth 99 cents. This was followed by a depressive episode – one which was broken by the conceptual freedom of working with landscapes and the catharsis of collaboration. “I guess what broke me out of this self-doubting period was when I painted on Ghada’s canvas in 2000.”

    The two have unified their practice through a process of exchange.  Ghada and Reza both begin in their mark-making working independently on individual canvases, once content, this is followed by exchange for the other to imprint upon. Reza remarked on the moments of voyeurism the shared studio enables – allowing brief windows into each other’s work and process. The pair however, are very careful not to disrupt the other’s practice in those early tentative moments – providing space for the work to evolve quietly.

    Initially their collaboration was established purely as a visual juxtaposition of medium and style. However, this organically grew into integrated layers – with each artist playfully trespassing into the other’s domain. These moments of slippage occur when Reza traces the female form and Ghada raises her brush to his botanical subjects.

    It is in collaboration that the nature of art is revealed  – Steve Lacy

  • The female form used as a weapon against the patriarchy

    In the decades after 1960, the authoritarian regimes and dictatorships that towered above most of Latin America fortified the role of women as dependent while inequality was fortified. With these happenings, various femme artists brought the female body to the foreground as a means of expressing themselves. These works were experimental and had a tendency of favoring photography, film, and performance. Introducing a shift in how the female form was represented in art during that time, they questioned regional politics and patriarchal structures. All this considered, not many of these artists would have labeled their work as “feminist” despite the fact that it addressed similar concerns as feminism such as sexual violence. Mexican femme artists, however, were making feminist driven work at this time as they were not governed by a dictatorship (Loiseau 2017). This piece looks at the history behind what I like to think of as a movement for re-contextualizing the female body under femme artists from this region and period of time and how it relates to artists identifying as intersectional feminists’ work within the African diaspora.

    Latin American femme artists creating work focused on the female body and its representation were unswervingly influenced by the widespread resistance of their respective countries as well as the revolutionary struggle. These works were made to indicate the potentiality of the female body as well as reframe the notion of what a body is. Many of these artworks dealt with emancipation and the reconceptualization of the body – a political process in itself.

    Photography by Julia Hango

    The first feminist art collective in Mexico was started in 1983 and was titled Polvo de Gallina Negra (“Black Hen Powder”). For a period of 10 years the collective created experimental, subversive works that questioned the role of women in not only Mexican society but their representation in mass media as well as the effect of machismo. Chicana and Latina artists based in the U.S were using their art as a response to the oppressive patriarchal politics in America and a second wave feminism that was associated with indifference towards the issues faced by women of colour (Loiseau 2017).

    The above information gives us context on what femme artists were expressing and how they were utilizing their bodies as a form of activism in their respective countries during that time. Keeping this in mind I will take a look at two femme artists who deal considerably in performance, photography and use their bodies as a voice.

    ‘Leave Me breathless’ 2014 by Jana Babez

    Cape Town based artist Jana Babez is recognized for her moving and sometimes unsettling performance-based works dealing with topics such as womxnhood, feminism, and celebrity culture. A recent performance, ‘Bound’ is described by the artists as, “A performance of struggle and perseverance”. She explains it in more detail “The use as stockings as a stand-in for rope is an intentional, as a symbol of women’s oppression. It symbolizes how female bodies are restrained, and restricted from accessing power. Restraints on a female body can also evoke sexual connotations. It’s a meditation on of how women’s bodies are treated violently but simultaneously sexualized. Even though womxn have more visibility now than ever before, it’s not enough. We have thousands of years’ of oppression embedded in our skin.” Earlier this year we spoke to Jana about another performance ‘Nightfall’ in which she navigated a public space at night while bricks tied to her feet arrested her movement. This performance was focused on the irony of the apparent safety of public spaces and the difficulty with which womxn have to navigate spaces specifically at night time opposed to how men are able to navigate them. These two performances led to physical pain for the artists as in “Bound” her body was bruised by rope and in “Nightfall” she hurt herself and bled. Jana’s physical pain speaks of the pain and oppression that womxn endure to this day.

    ‘Nightfall’ 2017 by Jana Babez

    The Namibian artist Julia Hango, aka JuliART came into the public eye for her provocative feminist art that challenges notions of gender and sexuality. Using her naked female form and the camera as her weapons Julia’s work confronts society on issues surrounding bodily anatomy, identity, and gender. Living as a nudist she has made some arresting artworks around her own body. Julia has spoken of the conservative nature of Namibian people before and I believe that her work is aimed at challenging not only the position of womxn in society but how the female form is regarded. When looking at some of her works such as ‘Queen Fifi’ we see Julia with her naked frame sitting on top of a white male’s naked body. A powerful work that can mean many things to many people, this man is, in fact, Julia’s lover and there is definitely taste of power play within this body of work.

    ‘Queen Fifi’ by Julia Hango

    What can be taken away from all this? Currently, Latin America is confronted with an increase in femicide and the U.S. is experiencing some of the most oppressive immigration policies seen within their history. This is not effecting a singular community though as womxn today all over the world are still facing prejudice and oppression. It is everywhere, in every country and in every industry. Today still femme artists make up only 30 percent of artists represented in galleries. Shocking, if you don’t believe me, go to the website of any established gallery and press on the ‘artists’ tab. It is time to move forward and not to exclude but to be inclusive of all the voices. “When you see that these women are being empowered, that they’re present, and they’re saying important things—these are important references for the next generation,” – Fajardo Hill.

    Photography by Julia Hango

  • Janelka Lubbinge: constructing synergy with the female form and natural landscapes

    Lubbinge’s photography is female driven and with her cunning use of nature and the female form she pulls her viewers into a carefully curated utopia unique to her work. Nature and the female form become one as she captures with her lens that which she finds beautiful and inspiring.

    Lubbinge lived in Pretoria for most of her childhood. At the age of 13 her family migrated towards a quieter life to the small coastal town, Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape. As Lubbinge approached Grade 9 she was sent to an All Girls boarding school in Port Elizabeth where she completed her matric.

    She saw the world through a viewfinder for the very first time as a young 12-year-old girl photographing her eldest sister as a pastime. The camera in question belonged to her sister but to Lubbinge, it was hers. In order to protect the peace between the two sisters, her parents soon had to get her a camera of her own.

    In grade 10 Lubbinge got her first SLR camera and started documenting the world she found herself in at that age; a world that consisted of hostel and school life at an all girls school. “I was glued to my camera and it became a big part of my life.” Mesmerized by the realm photography had created for her, Lubbinge found comfort behind the lens of her camera.

    Using natural landscapes as the backdrops for her imagery, Lubbinge feels that growing up in a family that has a special love for nature, has made her feel like it is a part of who she is as a person. “I love how a landscape can patiently wait, and when the light strikes at the right time she transforms to her full splendor. She is ever changing and always perfect. I find studios restraining and I struggle to interact with an empty space. My talent lies in spotting something that is already there and giving it new meaning.”

    Lubbinge strives to portray the environment in her backdrops the same way that she sees them with her physical eye at that given time. She enjoys going on photo missions with friends and is enticed by how a sunrise and a sunset possess different qualities. “I love how the same beach always looks different or completely new, as it is a subject to light and tides. I love the lines nature creates and how plant growth and light clothes mountain ranges just like a girl would clothe herself.”


    Finding inspiration in people that she considers beautiful, nature itself and unusual clothing in interesting colours, Lubbinge captures what she sees with her naked eye in a hypnotic fashion. “We are all interconnected, constantly inspiring each other to improve and to do more.  If I can learn one thing from other photographers is that I can always improve…it is part of the journey. It’s a great attitude to have to stay inspired.”

    Growing up with a predominantly female presence in her life, Lubbinge is acutely aware of the insecurities that come with being female as well as the social expectations women feel obligated to honor. Lubbinge expresses that she possesses many of these insecurities herself and therefore finds comfort in other women.

    Choosing to photograph women because she understands their inner workings, she captures something inside her subjects that they might not have been aware that they possess themselves. “I have never quite felt comfortable in my own skin and I want to make the people around me feel like they can and should be comfortable with themselves because I see the beauty they carry within them and that beauty has a physical manifestation.”

    Stating that her photography is generally for herself and her models, Lubbinge finds gratification in the emotional responses her work evokes to her viewers. Her photography is intended to be an adventure and its purpose to capture how she feels about people and her environment.“When people and nature come together they create magic. I hope to trigger a feeling of honesty and positivity.” Lubbinge’s desire is for her photography to show her perception of the women portrayed in them and how they make her feel alive.

    The girls featured in Lubbinge’s work consist largely of her friends and family. In her process Lubbinge strives for authenticity and styles her own shoots. Using locations that have pulled her attention by means of its unique qualities, Lubbinge relies on natural lighting to portray realness. The spontaneity of working with natural light is something that Lubbinge enjoys and considers to be a defining characteristic of her work.