Suania Duenas
Professor: Doris
Cocailo
Self I As Image
Spring 2019
“Constructing
Identity” – Art Museum Exhibition – Project
When speaking of “Identity” we are referring to a series of traits, attributes, and characteristics. In this course, we had the privilege to learn about famous artists. As we studied their art work, their identity was represented. For instance, Frida Kahlo was able to express her personal, national, sexual and gender identities in her art. Identity can also be built and even changed as we gather experience in life. Walking through the Museum exhibition a huge variety of identity was represented. Each art piece had a story of it their own. The artists carefully placed a piece of them in their work, some were more noticeable while others were more abstract. Many themes were also represented in the art pieces, themes that we have been reviewing in class such as power, class, race, etc. I decided to use these five pieces from the Museum exhibition because they are the once that captivated my attention the most. I also think that they are related to the themes that we have been going over in class. In my opinion they are very strong and have a lot of meaning within them.
Nick Cave (b.1959)
Soundsuit, 2015
"Soundsuit", a very peculiar piece that gathered the attention of the majority. It belong to a famous african american artist and I really enjoyed how he created this sculpture which seems as if it has life of its own. There are so many elements coming together in this piece and also how it bring religion and african culture together. I find it fascinating how the artist uses toys to creates this work. There are so many elements that the artist has uses to create this piece.
Nan Goldin (b.1953)
Misty and Joey at Hornstrasse,
Berlin, 1992
This image captivated my attention even more after I noticed the person in the back. I did not like her facial expression toward the person in the front. The person in the front is a man, who is dressed as a drag and I like how all the attention is going toward him. Although this can be both positive and negative. For instance, it can be seen as the drag is the light, the most important thing in this image, and the opinion and expressions of others do not matter because he will shine either way. On the other side, it can be seen as how people who are judgmental are always in the back trying to be negative.
Dulce Pinzon(b.1974)Bernabe Mendez(Spiderman),2007
I think that for those of us who grew up watching Spiderman were very much attracted to look at this specific piece. It is very famous in the American culture and in many other countries as well. I loved how the artist uses a very common task done by a very famous character. I think the artist is trying to bring an awareness of how important the "simple things" are, sometimes those little simple things are extremely necessary.
Tom Nussbaum (b. 1953)
Family Totem, 2003-04
2004
This sculpture was very captivating. It represents "family", most importantly how each family member depends on the other. One important aspect that I really liked about this sculpture is how they do not look alike. It makes me think of the people in my life that are not necessarily family members but because of what they represent to me, I consider them my family. It also makes me think of people from different backgrounds/ and even different countries coming together as one in order to create something bigger and better for all, perhaps, humanity. This is another example of how common it is for artists to represent family and the importance of familiarity. Which is something we can all relate to.
Cindy Sherman (b.1954)
Untitled #402,2000
