Beyond the Feminine

Préface
In this compelling journey through visual culture, and the staging of intimate conversations with four contemporary British artists, Ope Lori questions how race and gender play out for women of different racial and skin colour complexions.

Auteur
Ope Lori holds a post-doctoral Research Fellowship at Transnational Art Identity and Nation Research Centre, University of the Arts London, UK. A former lecturer at Chelsea College of Arts and Leeds Arts University, she is the CEO of Pre-Image Learning And Action (PILAA).

Résumé

How can contemporary artists and image makers challenge representations of race and gender in visual culture and produce alternate visions?

Exploring a range of lens-based British art that engages with questions of race and gender, this book critiques power structures that embed racial dichotomies to arrive at a nuanced understanding of the position of race in contemporary visual culture. It examines how white and light-skinned Black women are privileged over Black and dark-skinned women in music videos, advertising, and even in classic paintings. Focusing on skin colour as implicit in constructions of femininity, the works discussed deconstruct the links between race and gender to expose hidden power relations.

Presenting intimate interviews with four British artists NT, Marcia Michael, Sadie Lee and Ajamu X along with the author's own artistic practice, this book provides a much-needed toolkit for image-makers and critics alike. Using the analogy of the 'set up', this boundary-breaking book encourages us to not only question what we see, but to see differently, beyond the conventions of the male gaze. Reversing normative categories and social hierarchies, Beyond the Feminine puts forth a new gaze; an up-set to the system.

Contenu

Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations

Introduction

Part One: The Set Up
1. The Way Things Are
In-Conversation with NT

2. Illusion
In-Conversation with Sadie Lee

Part Two: The Up-Set
3. Worry
In-Conversation with Ajamu

4. Change Around
In-Conversation with Marcia Michael

Closing Thoughts

Bibliography
Index