Eroticism of postmodern libertinage on the example of work of the contemporary female artists Alice Neel, Hannah Wilke, Judy Chicago

Abstract

The subject of the article is the erotic genre in work of the American female artists Alice Neel, Hannah Wilke, Judy Chicago. The analysis of their visual imagery from feminist discource perspective is carried out. Methodological point of view represented in the article permits to reveal generalizing constants of analysis of contemporary visual erotica through the prism of main author concepts: “visual libertinage”, “deconstruction of body”, “emotive corporality”. The principle of postmodernist visual libertinage as a methodological technique to formulate a “female” look at corporality in their works is generalized. The influences of their artistic imagery on forming of the bases of three waves of the American feminist movement are considered: accordingly, A. Neel influences the principles of woman body visualization of the first wave, Hanna Wilke — the second, and Judy Chicago — the third one. The principles of self-presentation of the body through actionism and self-expression through nudity characteristic of their work are revealed. We prove that by these methods of work with corporality the artists violated the convention of social norm and puritan morality in relation to naked body, forming aesthetic of visual embodiment of the female body. The problem of comparison of erotic genre in contemporary American art with corresponding works of the Ukrainian artists is also claimed. The feminist principles to present body by the female artists became basic for forming the “Ukrainian body”: this experience had some followers in the 90’s, but as a meaningful and consistent program begins to be implemented in the Ukrainian art context in 2000–2010.