hyde or die
Kathryn Andrews Liberty 2009
Here is my greatly anticipated review of the show “Bitch is the New Black” and Honor Fraser: it looked good. Was I ever worried it wouldn’t? No. These are really talented artists, which is why I got so upset about them being referred to as bitches. I had tea with Andrews (above) the night before the opening and discussed the different connotations of words, especially when describing women. Use the word lady and you get an entirely different feel than if you had used girl which is completely different than the implications of using the term female. I still don’t like the title, I get that it’s tongue-in-cheek and I understand that it’s also meant to be shocking, but I still don’t appreciate this term being tossed around, on purpose, to describe “independent and successful women, on purpose. It sets a precedent, and a bad one.
Emma Gray (curator) and Andrews both referenced what Jerry Saltz is trying to bring into awareness about MoMA’s permanent collection (Tyler Green has a good summary of it here) and I get that. Why is it that there aren’t more women artists? Why aren’t there more shows with women? Why, in 2009, are we still fighting for equality? I can’t give a definitive answer any quicker than the next guy, it’s deep within our culture and unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be going away as quickly as would be preferred. However, I don’t that the next-step is to have a reactionary show with such an aggressive (and in my opinion immature) title. By acknowledging that there is a division, we reinforce the barrier.
Also, if the press release wasn’t complete crap, it would have been better.
If you have the opportunity, go see the show, it really is very good.
Side note: Gray kept using the word flaccid to describe the art scene right now, once to me and once to this guy, and I find that humorous. I know that it isn’t only used to describe a certain part of male anatomy, but it is commonly used to describe that particular part, so in turn she sort of described the art world as a penis. We just can’t get away from this gender thing can we? Maybe she didn’t, she is British, I haven’t been to England in a bit so maybe they use that word more freely than we do here and I just have my mind in the gutter.
Disclaimer: This is a link to my feelings about the show title. Andrea Bowers informed me that she was not participating and gave me permission to post that information.
Annie Lapin Land Gods 2007
I always enjoy getting invitations in the mail to different openings. The invitation always reveals a lot, did they care about the layout? What kind of card stock? What kind of printing job, and so on. However, sometimes I get something in the mail and I have to take a step back and say, they must have been drunk, or on drugs to think this was a good idea. Courtesy of Honor Fraser, that happened today.
The group exhibition that opens on July 11, highlighting significant women artists straight out of the Los Angeles art scene, curated by Emma Gray, is titled “Bitch Is The New Black”. I see the play on the fashion saying, but how does this “reimagination” of it apply to these talented and accomplished female artists.
Immediately it reads backwards, catchy, but backwards. So before I get all judey-wudgy on the gallery, I decide to go look at the press release online to see if it will shine light on this decision. They start talking about how all of these women describe themselves as some sort of feminist; terms like “angry feminist”, “self-destructive feminist” and “post-feminist” are thrown around. I can understand this, these incredibly talented women referencing their experience as women in society not only has a direct effect on their work but on their identities as well. I see the tie in.
But the title!! Where is this coming from? Oh, it’s supposed to be funny? They reference Saturday Night Live:
The title of the exhibition, an incredibly glib fashion term, was repurposed from a snippet of dialogue from Saturday Night Live that was broadcast during the 2008 presidential election. Tina Fey celebrates the idea of a woman president as a “bitch,” reasoning that “bitches get stuff done.” A few episodes later her cast mate Tracy Morgan rebutted Fey’s statement by saying: “Bitch may be the new black. But black is the new president, bitch!”
…Am I the only one that is curious to the link between skits on SNL about the presidential races and an exhibition about mid-career female artists based in Los Angeles? Oh, the press release goes on to explain this:
Most importantly, the title asserts the artists’ shared independent streak. “Bitch Is The New Black” isn’t re-envisioning a new collective feminist consciousness; it is about celebrating talented artists in the city of Los Angeles who happen to be women –- with attitude.
So, let me get this straight, this doesn’t have to do with the feminist consciousness, although you stressed it so much in the beginning of the statement, the title is in reference to their “shared independent streak”? These women, Catherine Opie, Annie Lapin, Andrea Bowers, are “bitches” because they are independent? Because they struck out on their own, but while doing this remained associated with the female pursuasion, you felt it was appropriate to not only label the “bitches” but put to associate them with an “incredibly glib fashion term”? Wow. Just wow. I guess they say one step forward and two steps back for a reason right?
I don’t know who this Emma Gray woman is. I know she’s British, that’s about it, but the fact that she just lumped together 14 of Los Angeles’ most prominent female artists under the term “bitch” in one fell swoop because they are all “independent” really puts this woman on my bad list.
Maybe I should be nicer, maybe Ms. Gray can’t think of a better or more apropos name than this one for the exhibition. Maybe she doesn’t realize the consequences of her actions. Even worse, maybe she doesn’t even understand how this is offensive and juvenile. I’m afraid it is option C and that makes me the most sad.
