Francesca Woodman

she jumped January 19th 1981

“things had been bad, there had been therapy, things had gotten better, guard had been let down.”

From the time  I first saw samples of her work on the coffee table in the basement, until forever, I have absorbed, and will continue to absorb muse from both her work and her story.

For a personal inspection.

What you need beyond a doubt,

Is just a good example.

One of your friends, o chosen ones,

To give a proper example,

Among the thorns which grow on the Hilcrest,

Sweet little blossom, student of students,

Happy one, ‘go, you Shirl.’

-Robert J. Brotherton

Cildo Meireles

“Through”(1983)

cellophane, aquarium, chicken wire, fishing nets, voile, glass, iron fencing

The Tate Modern in London is currently showing several of Meireles’ installation works such as Through and How to Build a Cathedral. The show is so incredibly inspiring and beautiful that I am considering prostituting myself in order to travel to London and experience it first hand.

“How to Build a Cathedral”(1987)

2,000 bones, 800 communion wafers, 600,000 pennies, 80 cement blocks, and 1 black sheet.

I came across Meireles in a book of modern sculpture I found in Barnes and Noble. I found out Cildo Meireles is a beautiful Brazilian man. His work is conceptually-based sculpture and installation worked around social commentary and censorship. Many of his most prestigious works include the installation pictured above and Red Shift(1967), which was an installation work of three rooms covered in red, exploring reactions to an entirely red environment. His walk-through designs are awe-inspiring, even just through a photograph. For years and years his art has been consistently striking and aesthetically excellent.

Photos curtsey of Tate Photography

Artemisia Gentileschi

“Judith Slaying Holofernes” : Girls’ got vengeance

It is not difficult to admire Baroque artist, Artemisia Gentileschi. Her biography is one of despair made into beautiful creations. Gentileschi was a trained artist by her father’s hand who most likely had exposed her to sexual abuse as well as hired her mentor, Agustino Tassi, who she was later raped and abused by. Artemisia tried to speak but the trials against her rapist later resulted in her torturing and painful physical examinations. Through all of her tragedy came beautiful and powerful works of art. Her heavily chiaro-scuro style works often depict gender versus gender situations and psychologically twisting affairs. In this painting, Gentileschi reveals her desire for revenge in a beautiful, Carrivagio-esque depiction of Judith slaying her male enemy, Holofernes. In the tail of Holofernes, the Hebrews defeated him through Judith’s sly tactics of seduction and rage. A truely femenist story, just as Artemisia painted. She painted her revenge; possibly the most exquisite revenge I have ever seen.