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Mary Wollstonecraft memorial statue provokes mixed reaction

TopCat said:
www.theguardian.com

'There are plenty of schlongs in art' – Maggi Hambling defends her nude sculpture of Mary Wollstonecraft

Her tribute to the feminist icon caused outrage at last month’s unveiling, but the artist has no regrets. She hits back at her critics – and explains why this women’s rights pioneer had to be naked
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
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I've watched a few things with her in recently and i kinda love her. She doesn't give a fuck and is utterly herself and a true artist in the sense that she lives more in her studio than in what we call 'real life'
I'm not a massive fan of the sculpture but the buzz its created for a mediocre piece is quite impressive. All this talk of the nudity and the male gaze must make her chuckle as a randy old lesbian.
 
i really dislike her as a person because of the michael jackson stuff i think i posted about earlier. that's my personal shoulder chip though. i made the same assumption about her sexuality v the male gaze furore, i think she probably finds it hilarious. male view or lesbian view though... i'd be interested if the accusation would be workable if it were levelled at a straight woman (aside from the internalised male gaze thing)
i don't have the proper vocabulary for this. and get a bit tied up in brain knots trying to unpick it.
 
tufty79 said:
i really dislike her as a person because of the michael jackson stuff i think i posted about earlier. that's my personal shoulder chip though. i made the same assumption about her sexuality v the male gaze furore, i think she probably finds it hilarious. male view or lesbian view though... i'd be interested if the accusation would be workable if it were levelled at a straight woman (aside from the internalised male gaze thing)
i don't have the proper vocabulary for this. and get a bit tied up in brain knots trying to unpick it.
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Michael Jackson - I don't think you did
 


i'm not going to edit this into my last post - this is what got me about her. i didn't mention jackson in my post by name, just alluded to the contents of the video,

worth a watch, but explains my chips and vinegar.

e2a: she reminds me of rowley birkin qc
not in appearance, just in speech/mannerisms
 
i think i've put my finger on it. my feminism doesn't centre broken men who are accused of child sexual abuse (or 'messing around with kids' as she chose to dismiss it).

if i was maggie hambling making a film with/for a mental health and arts charity (hambling was also an official patron of cooltan) that supported survivors of sexual abuse (and yes, statistically it probably supported perpetrators and wrongly accused men too, but they didn't really out themselves), i don't think i'd choose it as an appropriate venue/time to be controversial about that particular subject; if i had edited the film i wouldn't have included that bit in this context either.
 
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On a happier note, I'm pencilling in 2021 to start a Feminist Art War with Maggi Hambling. I've seen what Anish Kapoor and Stuart Semple got up to a while ago and it sounds like a glorious hobby. Bet we can do it better than the boys :hmm:

www.dezeen.com

Anish Kapoor flaunts use of "world's pinkest pink" despite ban from creator

Artist Anish Kapoor has got his hands on the "world's pinkest pink" paint, which he is legally forbidden from using.
www.dezeen.com www.dezeen.com
 
I've too many other plates to juggle to do it properly at the moment and I've already dropped a couple...
I've made that mistake before, when going headlong into stuff :hmm:

It's not just about picking battles, but also planning the right timing and resources as well I guess :)


I've still got to get back to me blacksmith as well.
 
I'm a Yorkshire guardian disliker and I still hate it, FridgeMagnet ;)

IMG_20201225_190036_9.jpg

IMG_20201225_185731_5.jpg

I bought myself the new woman's survival catalogue the other day (American women's resources from 1973) - this was the first page of the art section.

It's going to be an interesting self education...

I'd like to make a current British version as a priority over a Hambling fight, on second thoughts.
 
Once I've done the Important Stuff, though, I'm going to challenge Maggi to a "how many of each other's terrible briefs/sketches can we eat in three minutes?" contest. No drinks allowed.

I used to love chewing paper when I was little, and am used to eating my words, so I think I have a strong advantage already.

The gauntlet is DOWN.
 
tufty79 said:
Orange is the colour of madness and the logo of cooltan arts (rip), where I used to heal and thrive.

I've been closing loops and squaring circles in late 2020.

My feminism is woman centred and apparently I'm on fucking fire at the minute.

Just one orange shade used, squirted straight onto the canvas, and detail carved in with with a knitting needle :)

Not what I was expecting to make :)



E2a: oh! The 'me' in the centre apparently also has a devils tail.

Eat that, Maggi Hambling.
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Accidental challenge accidentally accepted/issued

My ongoing quest/immediate response since I first saw The Statue has been coaxing a metal version/translation of the ideas and shapes behind this into existence. Then sticking it in a bonfire til it glows red hot, possibly with magnesium ribbon streamers. And safety goggles. And a camera.
It doesn't need to be on fire all the time.

Whaddaya reckon, Pickman's model ?

IMG_20210101_135032_6.jpg
 
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Oh, yeah, I want it as a poker top, a separate Venus symbol for a light pull, and another plain portable Venus.
A blacksmith in Whitby is going to cast it all for me if she has time and I actually send her the commissioning email :facepalm:

I did sign up for a one off metal casting course in some woods recently, but cancelled when I found out it was run by my old housemates radical workers coop :oops:

If anyone knows of any women led/women only smithing courses in these strange times, let me know and I'll go full DIY. I fancy hammering my strength into something new, as well as all the other plates I'm spinning, paintings I'm making, zines I'm starting to write, and gallery portal with a zine art bookstore underneath that I want to hire, make an exhibition of myself, and get a part time job at so I can live in the middle of amazing for dollar, and curate the stock and soundtrack :)

Staying in touch with the nice bloke behind the counter while the owner is away would just be a cherry on top of my Continuing Life Well Plans. I like having small achievable goals :) I think they're called SMART targets?

Everything is starting to come together, and the future is.... the yellow I need to finish or leave, and the purple and green canvases that are being brought into 2021.

Art and music soothe and save me.
 
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tufty79 said:
Accidental challenge accidentally accepted/issued

My ongoing quest/immediate response since I first saw The Statue has been coaxing a metal version/translation of the ideas and shapes behind this into existence. Then sticking it in a bonfire til it glows red hot, possibly with magnesium ribbon streamers. And safety goggles. And a camera.
It doesn't need to be on fire all the time.

Whaddaya reckon, Pickman's model ?

View attachment 246500
Click to expand...

I'd say this was much better than Hambling's effort but that would be damning with extremely faint praise.
 
SpookyFrank said:
I'd say this was much better than Hambling's effort but that would be damning with extremely faint praise.
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Thank you - I think :D my brains turned that into ambiguous statement :hmm: but fuck it I'll take it as a complementary compliment and run with it ❤️♀️🔥👍

I can't find a running woman emoticon, so have a climber instead x

🧗
 
That's not a cock, that's an orange Venus symbol with a devil tail :hmm:

Has first coffee
My mistake - it is a massive cock after all. Easy to confuse the two things. Balls :oops:

E2a I am shielding in Yorkshire without access to transport or spray paint, just in case any false assumptions are being made...
 
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"hot phallocentric action" caption, innit :D

Well done whichever pixies are responsible for this.. this.... ORANGE MADNESS


its exploded my brain a little bit :D
 
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Oh. My. God.

Do you think this new orangey improvement could be Hambling's coded way of saying "challenge accepted"?

🎉🧠💥🖍

Either way, I approve greatly of the Current Modification.
 
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"Vandal ruins Wollstonecraft memorial. Damage then mitigated by grafitti artist."
 
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Which statue is best? Naked woman or nearly naked woman?

www.theguardian.com

Italy: bronze statue of scantily dressed woman sparks sexism row

Sculpture based on the poem The Gleaner of Sapri was unveiled by former PM Giuseppe Conte on Saturday
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

The artist said it was “useless” to try to explain artwork to those “who absolutely only want to see depravity”. Antonio Gentile, the mayor of Sapri, said that until the row erupted “nobody had criticised or distorted the work of art”.
 
The Mary Wollstonecraft is a bit of ugly tat, setting aside the possibly thorny issue of using a naked female figure to represent a feminist writer, the rest of it just looks like some melted scrap they couldn't be arsed to carve properly. Double fail for the fact it's a statue that doesn't make any attempt to look like the person it is supposed to honour.
The Italian statue is fine what's wrong with a statue of a woman in a sexy dress, did women not wear sexy dresses in the 19th century then? It's not of a real person so how is it different from the Venus de Milo or Michelangelo's David?
 
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