{"id":190619,"date":"2022-10-04T07:30:51","date_gmt":"2022-10-04T11:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=190619"},"modified":"2022-10-04T08:18:07","modified_gmt":"2022-10-04T12:18:07","slug":"latest-benton-exhibitions-focus-on-women-artists-feminism-and-punk-cat-eyes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2022\/10\/latest-benton-exhibitions-focus-on-women-artists-feminism-and-punk-cat-eyes\/","title":{"rendered":"Latest Benton Exhibitions Focus on Women Artists, Feminism \u2013 and Punk Cat Eyes"},"content":{"rendered":"

This may sound like the start of a joke: what do a horse head, a pin-up girl, and the Sex Pistols have in common? But the answer isn\u2019t necessarily funny, as the three new exhibitions at the William Benton Museum of Art<\/a> illustrate the contributions of female artists and their struggle for equality and notice.<\/p>\n

Executive Director Nancy Stula says the museum doesn\u2019t usually tie together exhibitions with a similar theme, but the 50th anniversary of UConn\u2019s Women\u2019s Center<\/a> gave enough reason to run the same string through three seemingly disparate shows:<\/p>\n

\u201cEncounters with the Collection: Celebrating Art by Women\u201d<\/a> in the Gilman Gallery, running through July 2024; \u201cRay Guns, Dames, and the Guilty Gaze: Feminism and the Golden Age of Science Fiction Pulps\u201d<\/a> in the Center Gallery, running through Dec. 18; and \u201cWild Youth: Punk and New Wave from the 1970s and 1980s\u201d<\/a> in the East Gallery, running through Oct. 16.<\/p>\n

Beautiful Artistry, Ugly Message<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen isn\u2019t it a good time for a feminist look at pulp science fiction,\u201d asks UConn Women\u2019s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies<\/a> associate professor-in-residence Barbara Gurr. \u201cThe common wisdom is that science fiction has historically been predominantly white, male, straight, and cisgender. Really examining how and why that both is and isn\u2019t true, and how it\u2019s changed, is an incredibly fruitful way of examining our society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gurr curated the pulp fiction exhibition with UConn illustration\/animation<\/a> associate professor Alison Paul who says she saw some of the work on display at the New Britain Museum of American Art \u2013 which loaned many of the pieces for the Benton show \u2013 and started thinking about ways to showcase the artwork \u201cwhile not ignoring the inherent sexism, racism, and homophobia they often depict.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
A section of books on display in the \u201cRay Guns, Dames, and the Guilty Gaze: Feminism and the Golden Age of Science Fiction Pulps\u201d exhibition on display in the William Benton Museum of Art sits in the display on Sept. 14, 2022. The three exhibitions currently on display feature a variety of mediums, including, books, paintings, posters, a movie and more. (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After connecting with Gurr, who teaches a class on feminism and science fiction, the two spent the next year sifting through the Robert Lesser collection at the New Britain Museum and the Loftus Becker collection at Trinity College\u2019s Watkinson Library.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more we worked with the material and did the research, the more we saw stories that we felt needed to be told,\u201d Gurr says. \u201cFor example, we wanted to discuss Mary Shelley and \u2018Frankenstein,\u2019 but we didn\u2019t know at first how exciting it would be to discuss C.L. Moore and \u2018Shambleau.\u2019 Learning more about the female writers and editors who worked behind the scenes, the ways that race has been both used and marginalized, considering the uses of the body in the illustrations, all these things told a story that became impossible to ignore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Take the work of illustrator Margaret Brundage, for example, identified in the exhibition as \u201cThe Queen of Pulp Pin-Up Art\u201d and one of the only female illustrators working during the Golden Age of pulp. She published in \u201cWeird Tales\u201d for the first several years using only an initial for her first name, a common tactic for women in the early 1900s to hide their gender.<\/p>\n

Paul and Gurr say that once her identity was revealed a frenzy ensued: She was illustrating partially nude women on magazine covers and to many that implied lesbianism.<\/p>\n

\u201cExamining pulp fiction from the Golden Age through a feminist lens really highlights some of the political and social issues both of that time \u2013 1938 to 1950 \u2013 and of this time,\u201d Gurr says. \u201cImmigration, gender, settler colonialism, race, sexuality, nationalism, power, these were foundational to the telling and illustrating of science fiction 80 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul notes that some of the imagery is graphic enough to startle visitors, so the pair posted a trigger warning at both entrances. They also included QR codes to some of the published works and included a case of contemporary science fiction from the 1970s to today, which provides more diversity and inclusiveness and serves as a \u201cbit of a palette cleanser,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething we said a lot while curating this show is that the content isn\u2019t easy, but it is important,\u201d Paul says, adding that a Wikipedia Edit-a-thon on Nov. 2 will add entries or fill out stubs for many of the women in the exhibition. \u201cWe wanted to give viewers outlets for the thoughts and feelings that the show might bring up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Range of Female Contributions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Among the 45 pieces on display in the Gilman Gallery as part of \u201cEncounters with the Collection,\u201d there\u2019s one that catches the eye of museum assistant curator Amanda Douberley every time she walks into the space.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an image with so many different layers, there are so many things you can think about,\u201d Douberley says of Graciela Iturbide\u2019s photograph, \u201cAngel Woman, Sonoran Desert, Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n

The black-and-white image of an Indigenous Seri woman in traditional dress carrying a circa-1979 boom box across the rough landscape of the Mexican desert is one that Douberley says is among Iturbide\u2019s most famous and one she didn\u2019t remember taking until she saw it on a contact sheet when putting together a book.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love talking with students about this photo. You can talk about the element of chance and surprise in everyday life and in different kinds of work. You can talk about discoveries,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot packed into that photo.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot packed into the full exhibition, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cEncounters\u201d highlights from the Benton\u2019s holdings the range of contributions women have offered the art world from self-portraits to porcelain pot vases. A jersey-knit wrap dress from designer Diane von Furstenberg, a Red Cross World War I lithograph from Jessie Willcox Smith, and an oil on canvas from Marguerite Stuber Pearson featuring a woman arranging a vase of flowers add to the feminist theme that binds this exhibition to the museum\u2019s other two.<\/p>\n

Douberley, who curated the show, says she spent about a year working with undergraduate interns to go through the Benton\u2019s collection of roughly 7,000 pieces to properly note which were created by women or someone who identified or identifies as female. The Benton\u2019s databases didn\u2019t record that information, and a year of research provided the missing parts of a piecemeal list.<\/p>\n

\"Amanda
Amanda Douberley (center), assistant curator and academic liaison of the William Benton Museum of Art, shows students around the \u201cCelebrating Art by Women\u201d exhibition on display in the museum on Sept. 14, 2022. (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe paid attention to the balance of media,\u201d she says of composing the show. \u201cI wanted to make sure we had photos and paintings and posters. We\u2019re also celebrating the Puerto Rican\/Latin American Cultural Center\u2019s<\/a> 50th anniversary, so I wanted to make sure we had pieces to represent Puerto Rican and Latin American artists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the exhibition will be up for two years, some of the artwork done on paper \u2013 like photographs \u2013 will be changed out to preserve their life. However, visitors will see the Benton\u2019s newest acquisition, its first since the pandemic, throughout the duration.<\/p>\n

\u201cFaucet with Horsehead\u201d by Valerie Hegarty is one of the centerpieces of the exhibition, depicting a horsehead modeled after the confederate statue of Robert E. Lee coming out of a faucet suspended in mid-air. The work was made last year as part of Hegarty\u2019s \u201cThe Covid Diary Series.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring lockdown, many artists, including Hegarty, didn\u2019t have access to their studio space,\u201d Douberley explains. \u201cShe spent a lot of time intensely journaling. The resulting sculpture series looks at the domestic environment and the effect COVID and concurrent social events had on the time period.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Robert E. Lee statue was removed from its foundation on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, in 2020 following the death of George Floyd. That came as people continued to wash their hands and sanitize their surroundings in the face of a deadly virus. During those months, bad news seemed to flood people\u2019s homes like a gush from a faucet.<\/p>\n

The sculpture might stand in contrast to the earliest piece in the exhibition from Anna Maria van Schurman, a Dutch woman who engraved a self-portrait in 1640 \u2013 or maybe not.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil the 19th century women were excluded, certainly from education in general, but also life-drawing sessions of nude models,\u201d Douberley says. \u201cLife drawing is the basis of history painting, which in the Euro-American tradition is one of the most important genres of painting. Because women weren\u2019t allowed to learn how to paint the figure, they had to use themselves as models.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without training on how to paint human forms, women were excluded from high art \u2013 scenes from religion, portraiture, and landscapes \u2013 so they couldn\u2019t compete with men who were given the proper training.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were some themes that I really wanted to pull out, and self-portraiture – and how it literally illustrates the sexism of the time period – is definitely one of them,\u201d Douberley says.<\/p>\n

Women of Punk<\/strong><\/p>\n

While an exhibition on punk rock might not overtly scream feminism, Stula says that in putting together the show with renowned punk collector and expert Andrew Krivine the two focused on the contributions of women to punk, including photographer Sheila Rock, who documented the punk scene in London in 1976 and 1977.<\/p>\n

Large images of the band Subway Sect during a rehearsal, and The Clash with the Young Sinners adorn one section of the exhibition. There\u2019s also a picture of Sid Vicious before his final performance in the U.K. as lead singer of the Vicious White Kids. All of it documents the punk scene and unique style that arose from it.<\/p>\n

Stula said Rock gave to the Benton a flash drive with her photographs so they could be blown up to fill the large display walls in the gallery \u2013 thus making the pictures come to life.<\/p>\n

Much of what punk is known for \u2013 aside from the music, of course \u2013 is the graphic design of its posters, flyers, fanzines and other materials, Stula says. No punk designer is more famous than Jamie Reid of the Suburban Press, who developed the graphic identity of the Sex Pistols.<\/p>\n

Think of the famous image of a young Queen Elizabeth centered over the Union Jack, with the words \u201cGod Save the Queen\u201d over her eyes and \u201cSex Pistols\u201d over her mouth \u2013 that was Reid\u2019s handiwork.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Students look at the \u201cWild Youth: Punk and New Wave from the 1970s and 1980s\u201d exhibition on display in the William Benton Museum of Art on Sept. 14, 2022. (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re focusing on the graphic wealth that you find in punk,\u201d Stula says. \u201cIn going through Andrew\u2019s collection, I chose all the pieces in this show on their graphic interest and the way the graphic designers created the posters. He had other posters that were inside albums or just photographs of the bands and those, for the most part, I did not include. I really wanted this to be about graphic design.\u201d<\/p>\n

While a men\u2019s suit might not be a traditional medium, Stula says she included it because a large element of punk is a \u201cwork-with-what-you-have\u201d mentality \u2013 a la the Reid artwork for the Sex Pistols that lifts fonts and lettering from other sources \u2013 and fashion that borrowed oversized suits and skinny ties from a parent’s closet exemplifies that well.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the reasons Andrew Krivine got into punk was because he was spending summers in England when he was 16, visiting family there, and his cousin John Krivine was the owner of Boy, a punk shop where you could buy clothing,\u201d Stula says. \u201cIt was a hangout for the punk singers and was just down the street from a shop called SEX, which was owned by Vivienne Westwood and her boyfriend, Malcolm McLaren, who was manager of the Sex Pistols.\u201d<\/p>\n

The connections don\u2019t stop there.<\/p>\n

The manager of Boy, which originally was known as Acme Attractions, was Don Letts, who filmed footage of bands over 100 days for the documentary \u201cThe Punk Rock Movie,\u201d a 1978 film being screened in one corner of the exhibition. Letts used a Super 8 camera that was gifted to him, Stula says, and sold his clothes for money to buy more film.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is intertwined with the music, the fashion, and these shops,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Intertwined with this exhibition is a companion show, \u201cDays and Nights of Print and Punk,\u201d<\/a> at the Schimmelpfeng Gallery<\/a> in the UConn Archives & Special Collections<\/a>, running through Oct. 16. That exhibition, Stula says, looks at the local punk scene.<\/p>\n

Punk grew in the 1970s among\u00a0 young adults who were \u201cenergetic and disillusioned\u201d by the political and economic conditions in the U.S. and the U.K. at the time, Stula says: \u201cThey sought to rebel in their style of music, the way they dressed, and even the makeup they wore.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was all a part of a feeling of that particular decade,\u201d she adds. \u201cI\u2019ve been thinking a lot about generations and what generation people belong to. This is certainly an example of a generation, or a segment of a generation, from the late\u00a0 ’70s to the early ’80s.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Various events are being held in conjunction with each exhibition. Visit the Benton\u2019s calendar of events<\/a> for information.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Exhibitions survey the work of women artists in fields from pulp fiction to punk rock<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":190643,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1711,1914,2235,2225,2234],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2368],"class_list":["post-190619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-sfa","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-storrs","category-university-life"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-30 01:20:19","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190619"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":190880,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190619\/revisions\/190880"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/190643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190619"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=190619"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=190619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}