Together you will select one image that provides a complementary and appropriate visual for this course. It will be tricky to select one!
This is where we will put together a collective annotated bibliography. You'll each choose one source that you've engaged with for your curatorial project. Here, these sources will come together creating new meanings and inviting new interrogations.
Frances S. Connelly’s The Grotesque in Western Art and Culture: The Image at Play offers a
comprehensive exploration of the concept of the grotesque (defining the word itself as it
manifests in art historically) and its occurrences across Western art and culture. Published in
2014, the book begins by tracing the origins of the grotesque in classical antiquity, navigating the
instances through the medieval and Renaissance periods, all the while documenting how the
grotesque has metamorphosed through time. This is traced alongside the evolution of religious,
social, and artistic movements, the book finishes with Connelly’s analysis of modern and
contemporary (as of the 2014 date of publication) art as it pertains to depictions of
grotesqueness. One of the strengths of this particular piece is its interdisciplinary approach to
analyzing the subject; this allows the author to at once define and illuminate the grotesque while
also highlighting the interplay with notions of identity, power, display, and the body. Central to
Connelly’s thesis and project with this work is the grotesque as a site of play, she contends that
the grotesque operates as a space of subversion and disruption, where established norms and
conventions are both interrogated and reconfigured. She achieves this through case studies and
visual analysis of art that utilizes the grotesque, in doing so she demonstrates how throughout
historical periods artists utilized the grotesque as a tool of sorts to achieve specific social,
political, and artistic commentary and critique. While such analysis and exploration is at large
helpful, some readers may find that her navigation of some regional variations of the grotesque
may be somewhat lacking and in need of greater depth of exploration, another such drawback is
the limitation of the critique ending at the publication year that does not encompass the current
and further evolved utilizations of the grotesque
-Elizabeth Arby
Lynda Nead, The Female Nude: Art, Obscenity, and Sexuality (London: Routledge, 1992); p. 1-13.
In “The Female Nude: Art, Obscenity, and Sexuality” author Lynda Nead analyzes the
relationship between pornography and other artistic forms of cultural production, with a specific
focus on where female nudes are placed in the context of this relationship. Nead explores the
difference in definition between “high art” and pornography, highlighting this difference through
societal reactions to different representations of a woman’s naked form. In establishing this
definitional difference, Nead demonstrates the drivers behind discourse in Britain during the 70s
around censoring pornography while at the same time, there still being a deep appreciation for the
female nude in Western art. Nead evaluates the acceptability of the female nude in “art” by
showing how, as the most popularized female nudes were primarily done by male painters for the
male audience, the nudes fundamentally provided a controlled expression of male sexuality.
Nead’s analysis provides a critical lens in analyzing how the female form is posited around
discussions of pornography and “art”, particularly, what is considered appropriate and why. In
being cognizant of how male sexuality has driven many of the female nudes and how that has
been deemed acceptable one can engage with iconic artworks with a more nuanced gaze.
- Lauren Bazay
Taylor, Diana. “Percepticide.” Disappearing Acts. Duke University Press, 1997.
This chapter in Diana Taylor’s book delves into the potential harmful aspects of viewership,
seeing, and spectacle. Taylor herself works with a context of the Argentine “Dirty War” and the ways in
which state and military forces created fear and submission among its people through use of torture and
other violent public acts. Taylor cements her thesis around these violent acts and the aesthetics that
accompany them— as she argues that what the viewers are shown not only elicits emotions but also
creates ideas about who/what is valuable. In conversation with the texts on commodity aesthetics, this
piece could be useful in thinking through how spectatorship and objectification manifest violent
consequences in terms of sex, art, and aesthetics. The important takeaway from this piece for my project
was thinking through how art and aesthetics can be used in order to push consequential narratives. This
source takes seriously the implications of viewership, and that’s why I thought it was important to consult.
- Di’Zhon Chase
Preciado, Paul B. “The Pharmacopornographic Era.” Testo Junkie: Sex, Drugs, and Biopolitics in
the Pharmacopornographic Era. Feminist Press at the City University of New York,
2017.
In his essay “The Pharmacopornographic Era,” Paul Preciado critiques the transformation
of the concepts of consciousness, sexuality, gender, and psyche into products for mass
consumption. Preciado argues that with the creation of “toxic-pornographic”
subjectivities, technoscience transforms “our masculinity into testosterone” creating a
feedback loop in which the subject and object exist in symbiosis.The term
"pharmacopornographic" refers to the ways in which pharmaceuticals and pornography
have become intertwined with broader cultural and political dynamics. Preciado argues
that in modern society, pharmaceuticals and pornography serve as key mechanisms
through which power operates, shapes identities, and regulates bodies, often reinforcing
normative ideals of health, beauty, and sexuality. Preciado argues that transgenderism is
pathologized by the industry, resulting in the construction of “gender dysphorics” as
subjects serving the technoscientific industry by purchasing commercial chemical
compounds to solve the “problem” of their masculinity/femininity. Preciado bookends
his critique with narratives of his taking testosterone in the aftermath of a close friend’s
death as a result of an overdose on A.I.D.S. medication. This paradox raises doubt as to
why the reader should lend weight to Preciado’s argument when he swallows this
criticism by seemingly becoming a cog in the mechanism of the “pharmacopornographic
regime” he seeks to dismantle.
-Hermella Getachew
bell hooks, “Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance,” Black Looks: Race and Representation
(1992/2015): 21-39.
bell hooks’ “Eating the Other” published in Black Looks: Race and Representation discusses
how features of difference are articulated as nodes of desire, and how race is commodified in
such a phenomenological apparatus. First published in 1992 and republished in 2015, this
source explores white positionally as a power status, detailing how racist gestures are
embedded into white subjectivity even in anti-racist pursuits. The notable pursuit relevant to this
inquiry is the notion of “eating the other,” or attempting anti-racism by demonstrating adjacency
to non-whiteness, yet ultimately consuming/objectifying the other (i.e. appropriating their
difference) in such a pursuit. It essentially depicts the idea that putting something on a pedestal
both estranges the other and implicitly commodifies the other, rendering the pedestal a
price-tag. Under this theory, white encounters with racial difference soon traverces into embellishing (read: fetishizing; exoticizing) the other.
-Jade Kennedy
In the book, Ugly Feelings, Sianne Ngai examines emotions often dismissed or
overlooked in traditional discourse on affect, particularly envy, irritation, and anxiety. The main
point of the work centers around the ambivalence inherent in these mental states, revealing
underlying power dynamics and societal structures. Ngai's analysis highlights the complexities
of affective experiences and challenges conventional understandings of emotions as purely
positive or negative. The book’s organization places an emphasis on “ugly” feelings, with each
section exploring a specific emotion. Ngai engages with various theoretical frameworks and is in
conversation with a range of scholars to convey the significance of these emotions. By
foregrounding emotions often sidelined in scholarly discourse, she opens up new avenues for
understanding the role of affect in shaping individual experiences and societal dynamics. Ngai
offers a thought process for comprehending the emotional intricacies embedded in Marina
Abramović's performance piece, “Imponderabilia.” Ngai's examination of sentiments such as
envy, irritation, and anxiety resonates with the visceral reactions elicited by Abramović's
provocative work. In “Imponderabilia,” viewers confront their discomfort and vulnerability as they
navigate the small pathway between Abramović and her partner, confronting their own bodies
and societal norms around nudity and personal space. Both Ngai's work and Abramović's art
disrupt orthodox notions of affect and aesthetics, inviting viewers to delve into the complexities
of human emotion and perception in a thought-provoking manner.
- Sophia Panjwani
In Post-Fordist Desires: The Commodity Aesthetics of Bangkok Sex Shows, author Ara Wilson
aims to critically examine the relationship between political economy of sexuality and
hetero-western imposition of desire by analyzing sex tourism in Bangkok. Her claim is
underpinned by the notion that global capitalism is inherently infused with heterosexual desire,
as evidenced by the Western demand for such sexual aesthetics and commodification of Asian
women through the sex shows she analyzes in her piece. She focuses on the notion of “erotic
generativity capitalism” to explore how global political economy shapes the erotic desire of
western, masculine consumers, to thus generate the demand that becomes global sexual services.
By analyzing erotic sex shows and go-go bars, in relation to the consumer, she articulates the
means of commodification of Asian bodies rooted in unproductive sexual labor, however,
dichotomously, to western masculinity, use-value manifested by the promise of immediate
masculine-hetero gratification. She likens the women performers as commodities, rooted in their
commodity aesthetic all underpinned by the structures of erotic, generative capitalism. Overall,
the motif of the sex shows and go-go bars in Thailand demonstrates the eroticization of market
transactions and strengthens Western men’s power and idolizes them within the global economy.
- Ariel Portnoy
In "Dirty Commerce: Art Work and Sex Work since the 1970s," Julia Bryan-Wilson investigates
the complex relationship between art and prostitution, framing both as critical platforms that
challenge and reflect broader cultural and economic values, particularly in the contexts of
gender, labor, and commodification. Her essay outlines historical precedents and then examines
detailed case studies of artists like Carlos Ginzburg and Suzanne Lacy, who engage themes of
prostitution within their work, illustrating the intersections that influence feminist discourse and
labor politics.
Bryan-Wilson’s analysis is rooted in feminist theory and labor studies, using both historical
perspectives and contemporary critiques to enrich her discussion. This theoretical grounding
helps clarify the evolution of feminist approaches to art and sex work, positioning these practices
as forms of labor that actively critique societal values. For instance, she highlights the gender
dynamics inherent in these fields, noting the persistent gendering of art-making and sex work as
domains where women often appear as commodities in transactions predominantly controlled by
men.
Her critical depth is particularly evident as she discusses how art and prostitution serve as
mirrors to societal norms and the traditional valuation of labor, questioning established economic
and gender roles. This framing offers a fresh lens through which to view contemporary cultural
dynamics, providing essential insights for researchers exploring the intersections of art,
feminism, and labor. "Dirty Commerce" not only broadens the discourse surrounding feminist art
practices but also challenges conventional narratives about the value and function of labor in art
and society, making it a crucial text for understanding the nuanced ways in which art practices
can function as societal critiques.
- Rosie Rao
Working Girl:On Selling Art and Sex (2019)
In Sophia Giovannitti’s debut work Working Girl:On Selling Art and Sex, we see how
Giovannitti’s personal experiences in both the sex industry and the art world influence her views
on both. Using a conversational tone, she takes the audience through her appointments with
clients as she begins “selling sex”. While performing sex work, Giovannitti also works in the art
world and considers herself an artist, creating artworks and selling them to her clients. We see
that, for her, the lines between sex and art are blurred as they occupy very similar positions under
capitalism. Additionally, she attempts to build connections between the art world, sex work, and
capitalism as she explores the ideas of self-commercialization and self-commodification
throughout her novel. Throughout the text, Giovannitti highlights other artists commodifying and
commercializing their bodies as a medium for art, such as Marina Abramovic, Yoko Ono, and
Cicciolina Ilona Staller. Overall, the audience gains access to an honest, unflinching portrayal of
Giovannitti’s participation in - and capitalization of - sex works and art works.
- Dalina Serrano
Anne Anlin Cheng’s article, Ornamentalism: A Feminist Theory for the Yellow Woman, explores the commodification and sexualization of Asian women in the Western world. Cheng contends that Asiatic femininity is perceived as ornamental. The sexualization of Asian women isn’t necessarily linked to their nakedness but can be to their decorative resemblance to ornaments like silk, mahogany, and ceramics. Through analyses of artworks such as Afong Moy and Gustav Klimt’s Woman with Fan, Cheng illustrates how Euro-American art often depicts Asian women adorned with excessive decorations and oriental objects, associating opulence, otherness, and materialism as signatures of the Asian identity. Moreover, Cheng argues that Asian women are objectified as ornaments themselves. Their bodies constructed through fabrics, ornaments, and ‘skin’, and are secondary to the oriental decorations that surround them. This presentation of Asian bodies and femininity (as ornaments)
differs from definitions of Black femininity. Despite both histories of denigration and subjugation, Cheng notes qualitative differences in their discourse of racialized femininity. Black femininity emphasizes on bare and exposed flesh, while Asiatic femininity is presented as ornamental, reducing Asian bodies to their material affinities. In fact, as Euro-American often artist strip oriental artifacts from their original contexts and appropriate them for aesthetic pleasure, these understandings of Asian femininity are man-made, just as Asian bodies are artificially manipulated to fulfill Western desires.
1 https://www.bonhams.com/auction/20617/lot/43/vladimir-griegorovich-tretchikoff-south-african-1913-2006-chinese-girl/
- Kimberly Tandra
Berg, Heather. 2014. “Working for Love, Loving for Work: Discourses of Labor in Feminist
Sex-Work Activism.” Feminist Studies 40 (3): 693–721.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.15767/feministstudies.40.3.693.
Berg’s “Working for Love, Loving for Work” situates the existing discourse surrounding
activism and sex work in a critical engagement with capital, where Berg critiques key sex-worker
activist anthologies and advances the argument that such anthologies have largely pushed for an
uncritical vision and narrative of labor under capitalism. By problematizing the legitimization of
sex work through the claims of “social necessity” as a means to argue for sex workers’ human
and labor rights reinforces the reduction of one’s personhood to one’s contribution to capitalist
systems of value extraction, where, it pushes workers to, rather than identifying with the interests
of one another, become aligned with the interests of the capital and consumer instead. By tying a
worker’s worth to the products of their labor, dehumanization and exploitation are imminent in
ways that are not solvable or the power dynamics equalized by making heterosexual sex
exchange a matter that involves payment. Though Berg mostly focuses on the discourses of labor
surrounding sex work, the arguments she made regarding worker agency, (un)skilled labor,
commodification of intimate/interpersonal labor, and ideas of social necessity are equally
applicable to the realms of art workers and care workers, all three of which are groups of laborers
that I will be focusing on in my curatorial project. These laborers—whether in art, in sex, or in
care—have similarly faced pressures to define their motivations for work in altruistic, rather than
economic terms, and similarly faced the need to challenge narratives of their work as unskilled or
dispensable, which then, are used to justify a denial of adequate wages and compensation
alongside a view of these workers’ personhoods as conditional and contingent upon their labor
and exploitation.
- Victoria Tse
In “Feminist Frictions: Innocent White Victims and Fallen Black Girls,” Siobhan Brooks argues that
viewing sex work in terms of simplistic binaries like good/bad, innocent/guilty, choice/forced, and
criminalization/decriminalization fail to address the specific needs of Black sex workers. Brooks
highlights how sex work and sex trafficking are often conflated in laws like SESTA and FOSTA to paint
an image of the prostitute as a victim; however, Black women are excluded from this image of innocence
and are arrested at a disproportionately higher rate for prostitution. In this way, Brooks calls attention to
how race shapes state responses to sex workers. Brooks also makes the point that whether sex work is
criminalized or decriminalized, the state will continue to exert control over women’s, particularly Black
women’s bodies. This is important for understanding how the state surveillance of sex workers.
- Samantha Turk
Anzaldúa, Gloria. 1987. Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. San Francisco: Aunt Lute
Books.
In Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, Gloria Anzaldúa reconstructs mestiza
consciousness as a theory of sexual, cultural, and spiritual multiplicity arising from the mestiza’s
location as caught between the Indigenous and Anglo colonial world. A mestiza consciousness,
born from the borderlands, works to challenge the series of dialectic dualisms hierarchically
organizing Western colonialism, amongst these is the “puta/virgen” (whore/virgin) dichotomy,
which she works out through the reconciliation between the colonial appropriation of the
indigenous deity Coatlalopeuh into the Lady of Guadalupe. This includes a complete breakdown
of the subject-object relationship, allowing the mestiza to reclaim her flesh and shape her own
myths and histories through a spirit of transgression and ambiguity. Throughout the book,
Andalzúa goes back and forth from Spanish, English, and Nahuatal, from prose to poetry, thus,
embedding a spirit of transgression in her very form. Her work can be paralleled to DuBois’ idea
of double consciousness, similarly developing on the position of the mestiza as bound up in
contradictions and boundaries that can be reversed in order to rewrite colonial relationships to
the body, sex, and the land. Anzaldúa’s mestiza consciousness informs my research project by
defining the specific standpoint of Latina feminist artists as they work through and past U.S.
imperialism, colonial relationships to the land, and spirituality as marked and forever changed by
colonization.
- Nico Wright