I found this lecture to be particularly interesting; I discovered an artist named Judy Chicago through this lecture and I think that she could have a good influence on me and my work. Chicago made a name for herself during the 1970s because of her 'iconic' feminist artwork and it is suggested that her piece 'The Dinner Party', was a huge milestone for twentieth century art. I am not a feminist myself, I like to think of myself as a free-thinker, but there are feminist beliefs that I have, however I may disagree with other feminist ideas. It's strange though that within my art I normally associate myself with feminist pieces or works that exploit female ideas in some way; an example is my favourite artist, Tracey Emin. Maybe, this is because these artists are interested in the same techniques as me... like Emin is compelled by colour, text, embroidery, patchwork, 'life-stories', female connotations, etc; these are normally linked to a female artist rather than someone who is male.
Another part of the lecture was about 'contesting histories'. There were two exhibitions in Germany back in the late 1930s, one named 'The Great German Art Exhibition' and the other 'The Degenerative Art Exhibition'; the German exhibition displayed artworks that were considered important at the time, their pieces being made with a 'good' aesthetic and idealised nudes. The show contained artists who were thought of as 'politically correct' during this period, baring in mind this was the time that Adolf Hitler was in power. The degenerative exhibition included more well known artists such as Paul Klee (another favourite of mine), Kandinsky, George Grosz and Otto Dix as well as other mainly Jewish artists. It had more of a modern approach to it with non-representational work. However, although this second exhibition became more famous than the other, it wasn't for the right reasons; the way that the artists were portrayed was appalling. The show told a story about shaming the people involved and it was deliberately disrespectful and insulting to them, especially with the way that pieces had been displayed - for example, askew or halfheartedly. Some even had their works destroyed without their consent. Hitler viewed this exhibition, I'm not sure if this is because it was organised by the Nazi Party, or maybe it was just to show that he believed that these people and their art should be demeaned. It is amazing how this became more famous than 'The Great German Art Exhibition' as this was considered to be the 'better' one of the two; although, thinking about it, I know that it is undoubtedly down to the controversy of the degenerative show.
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