Art Gallery Modified Assignment

 

The American People Series #16: 

Woman Looking in a Mirror, 1966 by Faith Ringgold

Featured in the Houldsworth exhibition, this artwork portrays a black woman looking at her reflection in a mirror. Set against a background of lush foliage, the connection between face and reflected image is problematic—is the reflection her own, that of another woman, or an imagined likeness? It suggests the complicated, multifaceted essence of her identity. Referencing a long illustrated history of women and mirrors in Western art, Ringgold challenges its exclusions and conventionalized standards of beauty by inserting a black body within it. Shown here as an object of self-reflection instead of vanitas, a woman accepting who they are. Ringgold’s mirror corrects the raced and gendered gaze too frequently directed at women of color as it maintains the subjectivity of the black female protagonist. The flat, heavily outlined forms and dimensions of the bold, unmodulated color of the painting maintain the artist’s realization of a black aesthetic. A quote by John Berger, “A person may notice a particular image or piece of information because it corresponds to some particular interest he has.” This quote and artwork correlate with each other. Ringgold painted a piece of art that she could relate to as a black woman in today’s society dealing with identity and society’s standards of beauty. 

        "Contrived Spectacle" by Min Kim Park

Contrived Spectacle features a Korean women in their traditional cotton jacket and skirt in various poses and gestures from everyday activities such as washing the laundry, babysitting with baby in their back, working in the field. However, these poses also bear the symbolic images of the ideal Korean woman (or mother) passed down from past generations and structuralized within the society as the bearer of nobility, selfless sacrifice, compassion, and beauty. She has her hands fisted up and looking straight ahead as if demanding power. The reading "Understanding Patriarchy" says, "because patriarchal gender roles are assigned to us as children, and we are given continual guide about the ways we can best fulfill these roles." The artwork "Contrived Spectacle" shows how in Korean culture, women are pressured to follow these gender roles as being the caretaker of the household and not having a life outside of the house other than caring for their family. Also, in "This Is What I Know About Art, "it says, "I began to understand how intimately art and activism could work together to produce a collective voice and shared community." Looking at this artwork, I can see how the artist illustrated a fight for gender roles by portraying a Korean woman in traditional clothing with her hands fisted as if standing up for herself against someone. Women should be allowed to do what they want and not live their lives based on society's expectations.

I chose this picture of myself standing in the mirror inspired by Faith Ringgold's "Woman Looking in a Mirror." As a young woman, I self-reflect every day and refuse to follow society's standards. I accept who I am as a person.