Art and Women: Masquerade and Metaphor

Note: This 8-credit program will meet from 6 to 9:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Using the primary metaphor of the "masquerade," this program will take an interdisciplinary and multicultural approach to the study of second wave feminist art. Masquerade is an exciting and appropriate theme because--since society constructs gender, in part through femininity, and femininity has been defined as a masquerade-- it is an inescapable part of female lives.

What are the ways that women express, defy, transform or challenge this masquerade through their art and writing? How does women's resistance help us transform ourselves?

Moving from idea to creative response, we will explore the mask as sculptural object, as performance tool, and as artifact. How do masks telegraph, conceal, and distort identity? What constitutes a mask? We will also apply our study of metaphor and of feminist theory to such stereotypical themes as mother goddess and witch, to gauge their empowering or crippling effects; and to objectifications of women in contemporary art, films and advertising.

Class time will be divided between lectures, art workshops, seminars, student presentations and media critiques. Faculty lectures will cover women's construction of identity as well as artists who use the "female gaze" or the "male gaze." Art workshops will focus on the physical and conceptual aspects of the masquerade. We will design, fabricate, and use a range of masks and consider their roles as performative objects. Students will also chose a relevant artist or theme to research and will share the highlights of their research with their fellow students.