Feminist art is a branch of art which aligns with feminist theory, the social consciousness of feminism, and the political spectrum associated with the late 1960s and 1970s feminist movement. Poetry, literary work, music, and visual arts which highlight the societal and political differences women and transgender women experience within their lives represent feminist art. In part, feminist art includes media and media ranges from traditional art forms such as painting to more unorthodox methods such as performance art, conceptual art, body art, craftivism, video, film, and fiber art. Feminist art has served as an innovative driving force towards expanding the definition of art through the incorporation of new media and a new human perspective. Perhaps feminist art also “assumes that images, representations, and crafted expression of ideas are important not only for the beauty, virtuosity, or intrinsic value, but also because they are indicators of the social position and power”[2] of women in spaces and communities.
The hopeful gain from this form of art is to bring a positive change to the world through images, voices, sound, and resistance to oppression in hope to create social change and equality for women and all humanity. Music within the 20th century included punk music and political discourse regarding patriarchy represented in the feminist art created by Riot Grrrl, “a more politicized approach to female beauty”[3] displayed by the American rock group included perspectives of beauty such as “blonde hair, lipstick, lace-in parodic or exaggerated forms in order to draw attention to societal issues such as abortion, domestic, and gender violence”[4]. Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington and the greater Pacific Northwest and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. Riot grrrl is a subcultural movement that combines feminism, punk music and politics. It is often associated with third-wave feminism, which is sometimes seen as having grown out of the riot grrrl movement and has recently been seen in fourth-wave feminist punk music that rose in the 2010s. The genre has also been described as coming out of indie rock, with the punk scene serving as an inspiration for a movement in which women could express themselves the same way men have been doing all along. To quote Liz Naylor, who would become the manager of riot grrrl band Huggy Bear.
When considering the works of Riot Grrrl, some feminist theologians and Black feminist alike have come to also agree that the feminist theory found within 21st century music created by Erykah Badu, Beyoncé, Janelle Monáe, and Grammy-Award winning Megan Thee Stallion are forms of feminist art which includes sociopolitical communication and feminist discourse concerning sexism, misogyny, and race. The theodicy of Black feminist art and culture emerges from the human experience of social exclusion in which black feminist women, black male feminist artist (Chris Ofili), black lives, and black trans femmes in the Arts have experienced. For many feminist, the idea of freedom within spaces and groups such as feminism or Black feminism includes the advocacy of moral expansion to improve the human condition of women. The concept of craftmanship, craftwomanship, and even trans art in certain spaces in history serve as a particular philosophy which has contributed to creating social value towards the production of both feminist scholarship and feminist art. Even social theorist such as Karl Marx and Dr. Hannah Arendt understood that production occurs within the human life-process. Ultimately, Marx spoke about the significance of making, "using the terminology of craftmanship, as he actually understood history in terms of processes of production and consumption much closer to animal life-labor, in fact"[5]. Although Dr. Ardent agreed with Marx's perspective on producing, she prescribed also to the belief that the functionality of human production is subjective and objective to the act of sharing, and is "only the experience of sharing common human world with others who look at it from different perspectives can then enable us to see reality in the round and to develop a shared common sense"[6]. Oppression within the human experience of feminist artist has led to the creation of an aesthetic culture of feminist who utilize imagery, icons, and other forms of art to decolonize systemic discrimination against women. The absence and overlooking of women, their contributions in producing art, in addition to the exclusion of Feminist art within spaces of feminist and womanist theological discourse calls for the application of decolonization within the Arts and even theology.
Theological aesthetics is that branch of theology which includes aesthetics that coexist together to provide an understanding of humanity and the Divine through the perspective of theology and the arts. It is the interdisciplinary study of theology and aesthetics, and has also been defined as being "concerned with questions about God and issues in theology in the light of and perceived through sense knowledge (sensation, feeling, imagination), through beauty, and the arts". This field of study is broad and includes not only a theology of beauty, but also the dialogue between theology and the arts, such as dance, drama, film, literature, music, poetry, the visual arts, feminist art, Feminist theology, and Womanist theology. The theology of creativity is a branch of theology that emphasizes imagination and how concepts regarding the Divine includes the subjectivity of creation, the imago Dei, and theological discourse concerning how the creation of humanity includes the oppressed. Womanist theological perspectives perhaps also includes the idea that creation is the very being of the Divine, who created the Black woman to be, exist, and become beyond the falsehood and narratives which exist against their humanity in the Church, the world, and racism in the United States of America. Notable theologians, philosophers, and institutions have dealt with this subject which include Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, Søren Kierkegaard, Karl Barth, Hans Urs von Balthasar, David Bentley Hart, Dr. Katie Cannon, Dr. Emilie Townes, W. E. B. Du Bois, Audre Lorde, and the Black Church.
- ^ Korsmeyer, Carolyn (2004). Gender and aesthetics : an introduction. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-203-64663-0. OCLC 56549371.
- ^ Korsmeyer, Carolyn (2004). Gender and aesthetics : an introduction. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-203-64663-0. OCLC 56549371.
- ^ Korsmeyer, Carolyn (2004). Gender and aesthetics : an introduction. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-203-64663-0. OCLC 56549371.
- ^ Korsmeyer, Carolyn (2004). Gender and aesthetics : an introduction. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-203-64663-0. OCLC 56549371.
- ^ Arendt, Hannah (1998). The human condition. Margaret Canovan (2nd ed ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-02599-3. OCLC 38885897.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help) - ^ Arendt, Hannah (1998). The human condition. Margaret Canovan (2nd ed ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-02599-3. OCLC 38885897.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help)