Feminist Performance Art
Body as Canvas #1
Within Performance Art using the body as a canvas has become a more popular phenomenon since the early 70's. Pioneers in the field of Performance have used their bodies as a painting tool, as sculptures, to show signs of endurance, and to begin social movements. While there are many studies that have been completed by scholars in this field, there are little to no traces of this type of work in Guatemala. Other countries have received recognition, other than the United States, such as Italy, Europe, Cuba, Argentina, Costa Rica, Peru and the list goes on. This study is a significant contribution to the performance studies canon of performance artists around the world, who like Galindo, are using their bodies as canvases to heighten the awareness of communities against the oppressions they face.
Feminist Body Art #2
Feminist Body Art is situated in
Performance art as part of Autobiography. Laurie Anderson, NY artist, points
to the shortcomings of autobiographical material. "There's what happened and
there's what I said and wrote about what happened." (Goldberg, 172) This
blurs the distinction between performance and reality. This difficulty was
best described in a song by Anderson; 'Art and illusion, illusion and art/ are
you really here or is it only art? Am I really here or is it only art?'
This autobiographical type of presentation became popular in the late
seventies, the shortcomings became understood and the performers continues
to rely on the willingness of the audience to empathize with their
intentions. This movement came at monumental time in history, the Women's
Movement was also emerging throughout much of Europe and the United States.
Much of the work that emerged from the time were often grouped together as
feminist art by critics seeking an easy way to categorize the material, and
even to undermine the serious intentions of the work. Galindo began
presenting her feminist performance art in 1999 and continues today to
travel and present her work in galleries around the world.
Nudity #3
A common theme among feminist performance art is the nude body. Earlier than the Women's Movement, performers toyed with nudity as a way of gaining the audiences attention. Once the women's movement had fully affected the discipline of performance studies, audiences around the world were introduced to a body that was making a statement louder than that of a sexual one typically associated with the nude body. For example, Austrian artist Herman Nitsch, began presenting his work in 1962 and included elements of ritual and blood were described as 'an aesthetic way of praying.' (Goldberg, 163) It is rare in Galindo's work to find her both nude and bloody, exception is Himenoplastia, but it is very much in the vein of ritual. Rudolf Schwartzkogler, created what he called 'artistic nudes - similar to a wreckage.' (Goldberg, 165) In Paris, Gina Pane self inflicts cuts on her back, face, hands were considered no less dangerous then the work of Schwartzkogler. However, she believed, like Nitch, that ritualized pain has a purifying effect: such work was necessary 'in order to reach an anaesthetized society' (Goldberg, 165) The uses of blood, fire, milk and the recreation of pain as the 'elements' of her performances, helps her to articulate to her audiences right off, that her body was her artistic material. Much like the more taboo work of Galindo, these performers bodies are on the line.
Miscellaneous #4
Among the miscellaneous works of Galindo, traces of Dada, Surrealism are blended in. For this project the main focus is on the three above categories due to the necessity to provide clear arguments as to why Galindo's work is considered Feminist Performance Art above other genres of performance. Her miscellaneous works include going blindfolded on a trip to Peru, checking into a mental hospital in the name of art, building a wall around her while, reciting monologues, hanging from a bridge and reciting her poetry, being completely plastered from neck down and staying that way for 5 days. While these acts are also considered performance art, they are not as explicit as the others.
Olivia Gessella Perez
Copyright © 2001 by University of North Texas. All rights reserved.
Revised:
10 Nov 2007 18:17:01 -0600
1999
Performance
El dolor en un pañuelo
"¿Quién
poder borrar las huellas?"
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