Femininity on the Walls of Tehran (original) (raw)
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The first book to focus exclusively on women as subjects in street art, this study, part travelogue and part dialogue, examines these depictions of women artistically, politically, and culturally across continents. Interviews with artists peel back the layers between artist and image, revealing stories about their work, its context, and its environment. From artists in L.A. pushing back on Hollywood's shiny perfection; to painters in Costa Rica examining the cultural links of women, myth, and nature; to women in South Africa decrying domestic violence, what links these works are their temporality and public ownership. Why do wall artists choose women as their frequent and favorite subjects? What does it say about our conceptions of gender and rebellion, protest, pride, place, and community? And how does the growing commercialization of street art affect their portrayal? Color photos and guided historical context provoke these questions and inspire further ones.The first book to focus exclusively on women as subjects in street art, this study, part travelogue and part dialogue, examines these depictions of women artistically, politically, and culturally across continents. Interviews with artists peel back the layers between artist and image, revealing stories about their work, its context, and its environment. From artists in L.A. pushing back on Hollywood's shiny perfection; to painters in Costa Rica examining the cultural links of women, myth, and nature; to women in South Africa decrying domestic violence, what links these works are their temporality and public ownership. Why do wall artists choose women as their frequent and favourite subjects? What does it say about our conceptions of gender and rebellion, protest, pride, place, and community? And how does the growing commercialisation of street art affect their portrayal? Colour photos and guided historical context provoke these questions and inspire further ones. https://schifferbooks.com/products/women-on-the-walls
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Modern day wall art featuring women as subjects is usually painted by male artists, although women graffiti artists are challenging that male dominance and there are ample examples of their work on social media. The choice of women as subjects dates back to ancient Rome and Greece where idealized female images provided a template for desire, sexuality and goddess status. In modern times, wall artists present women as iconic subjects of power, renewal, and social commentary. Feminine graffiti appears to be idiosyncratic in its subject matter—the product of history, geography, culture and political discourse based on feminine power and influence. Although it is impossible to generalize stylistically about street artists, who are sui generis by their very nature–and wall art defies easy labelling–there are some patterns that are apparent when wandering city streets and encountering women subjects on walls. This photo-essay explores women who feature in wall art in open air galleries in...
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