Contemporary Artists Renee Cox and Hannah Wilke

Introduction

The body plays in the photographic work of artists is not one minor role. The possibilities of the statements made ??by the body can be varied. Thus, the mere representation of the body landscapes be a concern. But also for the mediation of mood or feelings or to criticize certain circumstances the body can be used be. Important is also the documentation of life stages or be changes in the body. The body can be a medium of self-reflection, he may traditional ideas into question, can show that in every human different identities can stick. And finally you can through the outer Body shell inner feelings show. The range of topics that can be expressed with the body is varied, just as there are a variety of artists who using Body as a means of expression. In this paper we would be discussing Contemporary Artists “Renee Cox” and “Hannah Wilke” and their artwork. These two artists have the similarity of using their body as an artwork and portraying the picture which speaks thousand words. They both have spoke through their art on important social issues and raised their voices for feminism.

Hannah Wilke

Hannah Wilke (1940-1993) is best known for her performative work: the “Starification Object Series,” begun in 1974, in which she photographed herself with vaginal-shaped pieces of chewed gum stuck to various parts of her body; Through the Large Glass, a video of the striptease she did behind Duchamp's iconic piece at the Philadelphia Museum in 1976; and the “Intra-Venus” photographs (1992-93), self-portraits documenting her struggle with the lymphoma that killed her at age 53. While her greatest notoriety arose from the use of her own (often naked) body as material, Wilke was also an avid draftswoman, as seen in a recent show that included works on paper dating mainly to the late '60s (Wagner, 12-19).

Made in a range of styles, Wilke's early drawings offer a glimpse of the artist she was to become—playful, witty, sexy. Pieces from the early 1960s executed in charcoal and black ink display a fierce, raw vitality, their abstract imagery often suggesting breasts or phalluses. Wilke then added pastels to her repertoire and began experimenting with a more graphic, bold, colorful style with elements recalling Miró's airy blobs or Adolph Gottlieb's hovering orbs. In the early '70s she adopted a softer touch and palette. In one drawing, a scalloped circle inscribed with the words “This was once my mother's plate” is placed next to a few delicately rendered flowers that extend from the crumbling end of a pale yellow rectangle. One feels that Wilke is beginning to explore, and tentatively celebrate, her femininity, allowing a vulnerable, personal side to show through. She continued in this vein with mixed-medium works that feature collaged elements with distinctly sentimental overtones—a flower (Rose in Water, ca. 1970) or details from Victorian-era illustrations, such as a hound peering from his wooden shelter, three little boys drinking tea, and an elegant dandy. What saves these ...