PRESENT: Una Kim, Jan Carpenter, Harriet Levi, Karen Swallow, Nancy Carr, Stasia Cabral, Kerri Evonuk, Joan Glebow, and OWCA President 2013, Catherine J. H. Miller.

Hosted by artist/musician and OWCA member Nancy Carr.

Speaker: Una Kim 

The event was a talk and discussion by Una Kim on “sexuality, gender and art”.  Ms. Kim is an adjunct professor in art at both Portland State University and Portland Community College. She received her MFA in painting from the Parsons School of Design, and her BFA in studio art from the University of Southern California. Una was a past president of the OWCA and one of the first recipients of the Madeline Award from OWCA in 2013 for her service to the art community and to OWCA.

“Feminism and/or artist- Women’s Sexuality and Art” was a paper written by Una Kim and delivered at the seminar “Feminism and Women’s Art; similarities and differences” at Kyongpook National University in Daegu, South Korea as part of “Cultural Sensibilities V”. Present at this exhibit and seminar were Russian, Korean and American artists.(from OWCA).

Una began by raising the question, “ What do we do with masogenistic painters like Pollock and Picasso? No painting is ever neutral. How do we deal with graffiti?

She compared Manet’s 1865 painting “Olympia” to Titian’s 1538 painting “The Venus of Urbino”. Ms. Kim pointed out the difference in the gaze of the reclining nude. In Manet’s, the woman is looking straight out at the viewer in a very direct and honest way, saying “here I am” accept me or not. In Titian’s work, the nude has a very coquettish look on her face and her hand lies next to her vulva, almost pointing at it, whereas the Manet’s woman has her hand over her private parts. We had a discussion about the significance of the depth of field in the 2 paintings and the significance of the black maid holding fresh flowers in the Monet.

The next painting Ms. Kim discussed was the self portrait as an artist by Artemesia Genteleschi. She portrays herself as a strong woman, with a powerful arm. We discussed the rape and trial of the man who raped Artemesia and whether that affected her painting, such as “Judith with the head of Holofornes”.

The last painting we saw and discussed was Courbet’s “The Origin of the World”. It has always been met with much controversy and was never shown publicly until the 1989. It is a painting of a woman’s naked crotch, with no face, just a close up of the vulva. It was made for a Turkish wealthy patron, and kept in a drawer for many years. Ms. Kim loves this painting and feels it embodies an acceptance and love of women’s sexuality as the source of all creation.

We briefly discussed feminist approaches in later art, but the main thrust of the discussion was attitudes towards women’s sexuality as painted by the classical masters.

Submitted by Harriet Levi, OWCA board member

Photographs by new member Stashia Cabral (Gallery page for this member is under construction).

Download Una Kim’s Paper Feminist And/Or Artist here.

Dear members,

It is my saddest duty to inform you that this week we lost one of our most active and talented members Christine Dentel.  Please see her gallery page here on our website.  She was born November 5th 1946 and her death was November 14th 2013.She was a wonderful photographer and woman.

There will be a memorial at the First Unitarian Church of Portland on Sunday November 24th at 2:00 p.m.

Enter church on 12th and Salmon. Map

We all are so glad that she shared her work and herself with the OWCA and we will miss her. We send our condolences to her family in this time of grief, as we grieve with them.

Sincerely,

Catherine J. H. Miller
OWCA
President