6:13 minutes
In the six-minute single-channel video Higher Horse , Kate Gilmore perches herself on top of a tall pile of plaster blocks, in front of a pink colored wall with vein-like streaks of red. Two muscular men with sledgehammers simultaneously pummel the blocks where Gilmore attempts to stand. Although we can only see the artist from the waist down, her body language reveals apprehension: her hands, tense, press against the wall in an attempt to maintain balance while the men come dangerously close to smashing her bare legs. Gilmore’s attire—red heels, a black skirt, and a pink top—together with the pink walls, are all symbolically charged as expressions of the female gender. The aggressive actions we see in Higher Horse are consistent with her investigation into the language of damage, destruction and rage, which in this case, is inflicted by the male body as she attempts to remain above, unharmed.
Whether through live or filmed performances, or sculptural works where we can see traces of actions, Kate Gilmore’s practice always departs from the female body. Through her own physicality, and often using the language of destruction and rage, she creates works that bring into question social constructs relating to sex, gender, and most specifically, femininity. Although early in her career she often placed herself as the central protagonist, over the past few years she has invited other women to perform her pieces, and in some instances has even relied on audiences to activate works. A common feature of her work is the use feminine signifers—high heels, skirts, floral patterns, and specific color hues—which are set in stark contrast with physically demanding actions that are aggressive in nature and would commonly be associated with a masculine ethos. By tearing dry walls with sledge hammers, bashing cubes of metal and plaster, smashing glass containers full of paint—Gilmore’s gestures embody a form of resistance seeking to break free from the norms that constrict femininity, all of this articulated through and from the female body.
In Monster (1996-97), the artist’s face becomes grotesque through the application of strips of transparent adhesive tape, typical of Gordon’s performance-based films that often depict his own body in action...
In One Must , an image of a pair of scissors, accompanied by the words of work’s title, poses an ominous question about the relationship between the image and the text...
Blind Spencer is part of the series “Blind Stars” including hundreds of works in which the artist cut out the eyes of Hollywood stars, in a symbolically violent manner...
Tania Libre is a film by Lynn Hershman Leeson centered around renowned artist Tania Bruguera and her experience as a political artist and activist under the repressive government of her native Cuba...
Video: Catherine Opie on photographing leading British artists | Blog | Royal Academy of Arts Catherine Opie in the RA Collection Gallery Video: Catherine Opie on photographing leading British artists Read more Become a Friend Video: Catherine Opie on photographing leading British artists Published 8 September 2023 Catherine Opie discusses her portraits of David Hockney, Anish Kapoor, Gillian Wearing, Isaac Julien and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, featured in our free display in the Collection Gallery...
Like many of Opie’s works, Mike and Sky presents female masculinity to defy a binary understanding of gender...
Tania Libre is a film by Lynn Hershman Leeson centered around renowned artist Tania Bruguera and her experience as a political artist and activist under the repressive government of her native Cuba...
Canned Laughter was Okón’s response to an invitation from Ciudad Juárez , Mexico, where artists were asked to create works based on their experience of the city...
Catherine Opie’s candid photograph Cathy (bed Self-portrait) (1987) shows the artist atop a bed wearing a negligee and a dildo; the latter is attached to a whip that she holds in her teeth...
Cakap-Cakap: Interview with Salty Xi Jie Ng | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Artist Profile July 31, 2021 In this month’s Cakap-Cakap (chit-chat), ArtsEquator speaks with artist Salty Xi Jie Ng, whose most recent project, Not Grey: Intimacy, Ageing & Being , excavated what intimacy means for older Singapore women (hint: it’s not all about sex!)...
Julie Mehretu's Masterpiece Breaks Records at Sotheby's - Artcentron Home » Julie Mehretu’s Masterpiece Breaks Records at Sotheby’s ART AUCTION Dec 11, 2023 Ξ Leave a comment Julie Mehretu’s Masterpiece Breaks Records at Sotheby’s posted by ARTCENTRON Julie Mehretu’s Masterpiece, Walkers With the Dawn and Morning sets a new record at auction...
Cakap-Cakap: Interview with Daryl Lim for Local Flavours | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles May 28, 2021 In this month’s Cakap-Cakap (chit-chat), ArtsEquator speaks with poet and critic, Daryl Lim Wei Jie, who curated the poems featured in Local Flavours , an interactive site based on the concept of food delivery mobile apps...
Le tatouage, un terrain de jeu artistique Cet article vous est offert Pour lire gratuitement cet article réservé aux abonnés, connectez-vous Se connecter Vous n'êtes pas inscrit sur Le Monde ? Inscrivez-vous gratuitement Article réservé aux abonnés Des œuvres d’Ouriel Zéboulon exposées lors du vernissage de l’exposition « Faire Fair 2 », à l’espace 3537, à Paris, en avril 2023...
Forest Gathering N.2 is part of the series of photographs Beneath the Roses (2003-2005) where anonymous townscapes, forest clearings and broad, desolate streets are revealed as sites of mystery and wonder; similarly, ostensibly banal interiors become the staging grounds for strange human scenarios...
Glenn Ligon’s diptych, Condition Repor t is comprised of two side-by-side prints...
Welling employs simple materials like crumpled aluminum foil, wrinkled fabric and pastry dough and directly exposes them as photograms, playing with the image in the process of revealing it...
Untitled is a black-and-white photograph of a wave just before it breaks as seen from the distance of an overlook...
Miami Advice: Nina Johnson on the Spear House of North Bayshore Drive Art market Museums & heritage Exhibitions Books Podcasts Columns Technology Adventures with Van Gogh Search Search Art Basel in Miami Beach 2023 interview Miami Advice: Nina Johnson on the Spear House of North Bayshore Drive The gallerist says that the pretty-in-pink property exudes the quintessential 1980s South Florida vibe that still resonates today Tim Schneider 7 December 2023 Share Laurinda Spear’s original plan, created with Rem Koolhaas, was rejected by the client: her parents Photo: Elizabeth Whiting Located at 9325 North Bayshore Drive, in the Miami Shores neighbourhood, the Spear House (aka the Pink House) looms large in the cultural imagination of South Florida...
Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster — Nos années 70 (chambre) — Chantal Crousel Gallery — Exhibition — Slash Paris Login Newsletter Twitter Facebook Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster — Nos années 70 (chambre) — Chantal Crousel Gallery — Exhibition — Slash Paris English Français Home Events Artists Venues Magazine Videos Back Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster — Nos années 70 (chambre) Exhibition Mixed media Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Nos années 70 (chambre), 1992...