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Essay Available:
Pages:
3 pages/β‰ˆ825 words
Sources:
3 Sources
Style:
Chicago
Subject:
Visual & Performing Arts
Type:
Essay
Language:
English (U.S.)
Document:
MS Word
Date:
Total cost:
$ 10.8
Topic:

Muholi, Zahele. 2006 Black And White Photo Black Lesbian Pride

Essay Instructions:

This assignment is intended to expand our exploration of the representation of gender and sexuality in art and popular culture beyond the range of examples we will be able to cover in our weekly modules by asking you each to engage closely with an artwork (any medium, including performance), advertisement, or example from popular culture (a music video, for example) of your choosing.
You may search for an artwork in the online collections of major museums, journal articles, books, websites, etc. (a few resources to help you get started are listed below), and you may choose your object of analysis from any region/time period you wish, provided that the topic deals with issues addressed in this course (refer to the course description or module topics if you are unsure). Once you settle on an artwork/visual image, you are asked to engage in a visual and contextual analysis using your own powers of observation combined with the theories we have covered so far in the course (especially modules 1-3) and your own external research. Your paper should include the following elements:
1. An image (or multiple images) of the work you have chosen to examine, including accurate details about the artwork (artist/maker, if known, date, location, and any other relevant information depending on your choice).
2. A visual analysis addressing the artwork’s formal elements, including commentary on the style of the work if applicable. The purpose of the visual analysis is to recognize and understand the visual and artistic choices the artist made in creating the artwork, which will allow you to analyze these choices in relation to the following steps.
3. A contextual analysis addressing the socio-historical context of the work and an interpretation of its possible meaning(s). This should include answers to questions such as:
a. Who was/is the intended audience of the work? Where would it be displayed?
b. What is the significance of the subject depicted?
c. What might have been its social or political function in relation to
topics of concern in this course?
d. Does it reflect (or disrupt) socio-cultural values about gender,
sexuality and/or sexual identity?
e. Have contemporary perspectives shed new light on the work’s
interpretation (if you’ve chosen a historical object). Are there
competing interpretations of the piece?
f. Is the identity of the artist important to the meaning of the work?

g. How do the formal elements/visual dynamics of the work impact it’s meaning in relation to this broader context?
4. A theoretical analysis drawing together visual elements and contextual framing to offer an interpretation of the dynamics of representation and/or power represented in the work, including (where possible) reference to one or more of the concepts discussed in our reading material for Modules 1-3. This is where your research and your own interpretation will come together.
ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES
Sources: Your analysis should be based in thorough research of your chosen topic, including reference to at least one course reading, (CATHRINE OPIE, BEING AND HAVING AN IDENTITY - I HAVE A PDF OF THIS READING IF YOU CANNOT FIND IT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW) and at least 2 additional academic sources (books, journal articles, etc.). You may choose an artwork discussed in our course readings if you like, but your paper must include substantial additional research and interpretation, such as posing a different perspective or presenting other new information not covered in our course texts.
Format: Approx. 3 pages, Times New Roman, 12pt. font, double-spaced. This is not a long paper, so you will need to be succinct, with strong attention to organization and flow!
Citation: You may use Chicago Manual or MLA, but be sure to use an up-to-date style guide and be consistent! I’m flexible on which style you use but will be very picky about correct usage. You must include a properly formatted bibliography.
Images: Must appear numbered on a separate page or pages at the end of your paper, before the bibliography, and be labeled correctly with all pertinent information (The order of information may vary depending on which style guide you use). Do not insert images into the body of your text.
Example (for image found online):
Fig. 1: Heimans, Ralph. 1996. Gloves Off (Tom Uren). Oil paint on canvas. Canberra: National Portrait Gallery. http://www(dot)portrait(dot)gov(dot)au/portraits/ 2000.36/gloves-off-tom-uren.
Some sources of inspiration if you need them:
https://www(dot)artspace(dot)com/magazine/art_101/body-of-art/body-of-art-gender- fluidity-53246
https://artreport(dot)com/gender-sexuality-and-art/

Essay Sample Content Preview:

ARTWORK ANALYSIS
Name
Course
Date
Fig. 1 Muholi, Zahele. 2006. Black-and-White photo of black lesbian pride
Introduction
The photograph was produced in 2006 when same-sex orientation relationships were legalized in South Africa. The photographer who doubled up as the same trans community and lesbian activity initiated a series known as the “Faces and Phases with a view to advocating for the rights of the marginalized transgender and lesbian couples and individuals. Rampant violence against such communities was witnessed previously and the legal verdict helped strengthen the resolve to fight for more space to such vulnerable groups. Muholi challenged the subjects who were non-conforming gender-wise and the queers to participate actively in creating their respective identities. Muholi also encouraged others to gather relevant skills on photography via the exquisite photo activism, the project whose name was “Inkanyiso.” The activist, Zahele Muholi achieved milestones when she was endowed with the opportunity in 2015 to present the pieces of her work in the Isibonelo/Evidence Solo Exhibition that was undertaken in the Brooklyn Museum in New York. Muholi managed to author a book that highlighted the plight of lesbians and the trans-communities as a way of giving insight into the world of misunderstanding with regard to such susceptible members of the society.[Bridget Casey, Bridget Casey, Novak Vincent, Lee Christina, Lee Christina, and Childs. Quincy 2019. "Gender, Sexuality, and Art - Art Report". Art Report. https://artreport.com/gender-sexuality-and-art/.]
Visual Analysis
The image contains two alkebulan ladies and the two are adorned with earrings. The couple seems to have different hairstyles with one clean shaven at the sides leaving a shock of hair at the top while the other has well-kempt, kinky African hair. The two are cuddling each other with their eyes set at strategic positions. The eyes seem to suggest some intimate relationship between the individuals. The images can be interpreted as females due to the fact that most of the women in Africa tend to pierce and wear earing while isolated cases of such phenomena occur in particularly few communities. The compromising posture assumed by the women gives a clue that the two are a dike couple as the two are naked. The photographer decided to take half of the figures therein.["Body as Art Inspires Body of Art". 2005. JAMA 293 (23): 2847. doi:10.1001/jama.293.23.2847]
Contextual Analysis
The portrait underpins lesbian couples in an African setup and it tries to showcase the beauty of embracing tolerance in a situation where people exude diverse character. Such an aspect has been divulged through the peaceful, tender and focused visages dominating the dike pride in the portrait. The portrait could be displayed in all areas hard-hit with the trans and other gender nonconformity ills such that the injustices could be addressed effectively as the image would have more visual appeal. By so doing, more awareness and tolerance sensitization would be achieved leading to harmony and peaceful coexistence among al...
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