So for the past four months, I have been involved in the Nasty Women Project in Newcastle. I offered my hand out and was thrilled for the two organisers, artists Lady Kitt and Aly Smith to say welcome aboard. If you have no idea what the Nasty Women Movement, here is what its all about.
At the back end of 2016 the reality TV show, The Debate aired. It starred orange face reality star, Donald Trump and the only hope for America, Hillary Clinton. In the final moments of the 3rd and final presidential debate, Trump interpreted Clinton as she was answering a question about social security,
“Such a nasty woman,”
He muttered into the microphone (Trump has both called Ted Cruz and Clinton “nasty” in the past but never before had he so publicly paired the term with the word “woman”) The small but extremely offensive word started a movement of women and men proclaiming they are a nasty woman themselves. This word is a powerful callback to the misogynistic messaging of Trump's campaign, and a demonstration of solidarity among artists worldwide. Brooklyn-based sculptor Roxanne Jackson posted a Facebook status that went viral, it read,
“Hello, female artists/curators! Let's organise a NASTY WOMEN group show!! Who's interested? We need a venue!?”
700 pieces of work were displayed and sold all from the fact that people were pissed and wanted to make a difference and show we ain't going to take it!
All there money went to Planned Parenthood, which is a brilliant organisation that helps a lot of women with birth control and practising safe sex. The Republicans hate that women have choices with their bodies so they are planning to defund the organisation.This exhibition was a huge success and all the work was sold. One of the works that were sold was Newcastle based artist and Nasty Women Newcastle curator, Lady Kitt. Whose work was sold a local politician in New York.
People from around the world have started to organised their own Nasty Women exhibition. What's good enough for New York City is good enough for Newcastle! The exhibition was organised by Byker Community Centre “Maker in Residence” and Nasty Women “alumnus” Lady Kitt and artist and Byker Community Centre Development Manager Aly Smith. The little different for this exhibition is all work were welcomed from artists and non-artists. The profits for this exhibition have gone to two charities. All profits from the sale of artwork will be split 50/50 between LGBT campaigning group, The Fed and BCCs Women Group.
When I asked to help out, I thought I would just help with the opening and maybe promotion but I was fully on board and absolutely loved every minute being on this team. I was asked to write a little essay on nasty women for a booklet we were selling. Many ideas went through my head and I decided to write it about nasty women throughout art history, as many women throughout art history have been misrepresented or forgotten. There were too many women I could have included, Kahlo, Mendieta, Miller and many, MANY more. I chose these women because they had to fight to be recognised and got nasty doing it. Here is the essay what was printed hope you all enjoy.
There have been many nasty women throughout art history. It has taken many years for women to be taken seriously as artists, and throughout these years when women used to sign their paintings anonymous or not at all because of the repercussion of their actions. Here are a few nasty women, who decided not to lie down and became the greatest names in art history.
Artemisia Gentileschi
Artemisia Gentileschi was an ambitious trainee painter when she was raped by one of her tutors, Agostino Tassi. Many people did not believe her story and to get the justice she agreed to be tortured with Sybille, thumbscrews, involving cords of rope tied around her hands and pulled tightly in order to “prove” that she was telling the truth.During the torture, which of course seriously injured her hands, she was repeatedly asked whether or not Tassi had raped her and she continually responded: “it is true, it is true.”With this defiant attitude she used her paintings as her weapon, she painted many strong and suffering women from myth and the Bible. Her masterpieces, Judith Slaying Holofernes shows the anger, attitude and strength we like in our nasty women. In this painting we see two strong, young women working in unison, their sleeves rolled up, their gazes focused, their grip firm for the man's neck ready to decapitate him. She depicts herself as Judith showing us the rage she felt. Artemisia was a nasty woman who used her work to express her rage of what happened to her and did not let it define her. She was the first woman to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno In Florence. She is considered today as one of the most accomplished painters in the generation following that of Caravaggio.
Georgia O Keeffe
Georgia O Keeffe work has been described as being highly sexual, too many her work are the just representation of the female anatomy. Even feminist in the 1970’s took her work as a statement of female empowerment. Keeffe being the nasty woman she did not take this information lying down. She believed her work to be stronger than just a feminine theme, exploring nature, landscape, colour and showing the world her incredible talent as a painter. She believed her work was more than just “good for female artists”, she believed she was the best painter, period. Today she is one of the greatest artists of all time and her painting Jimson Weed/ White Flower No 1, was sold for $44.4 Million in 2014, The highest price paid for female artists.
Romaine Brooks
Romaine Brooks was one of the first modern artists to depict women's resistance to patriarchal representations of the female in art. Brooks came from an extremely wealthy family, which gave her freedom that other women of the time never had. Because of her wealth, she was free to shake off the restrictive expectation of women artists, including female nudes. Most women were not allowed to paint nudes because it was “unlady” like, this did not bother Brooks as she would take classes in which she was the only woman. She specialised in portraits, mainly of her friends and lovers. She painted in grey, dark tones, not like cubism and fauvism which were reinventing the whole art scene. However, her subject matter was much more contemporary, crossdressers, and gender ambiguity. She understood that women in art had been treated as the object rather than a subject. She made it her mission to change all that. She was overlooked for many years in part because of her fluid sexual and gender identity. She was such a nasty women she couldn't care less who liked her work. She painted for herself and not to please the art world she was overlooked and only recently has been reexamined on how powerful and important her work is.
These nasty women are only a few in the art world who have impacted art history, there are much more who have been nasty throughout history. Today we come together as nasty women to celebrate women in art and how many nasty women out there can change the world.
Hope you enjoyed reading this and make sure you follow Nasty Women Newcastle on Facebook as we are creating more events around the northeast in the near future.
MAW
