Fat Women In Art
Here’s an email that I got from BFDiva Mary! She found a very cool statue out in the wild:
So, a long while back – I am hoping it was one year, but fear it may be two! – you had a bit of a series on BFD about fat women in art – Venus of Willendorf and others. And since then, I’ve wanted to send you this statue, in the FDR Post Office in Manhattan, at 53rd and 3rd. She’s placed next to the escalator, so it’s hard to get a good picture of her – and this one is from my cell. She’s called “The Big Woman”, and is made of rough pieces patted together into the shape you see.
I love her. She is the big woman, and she’s one of the only female bodies I’ve ever seen that I feel some connection with – the shape reminds me of my own, in terms of certain contours. I don’t know what the artist thought or felt about calling her the “Big Woman”, but it makes me feel she is proud and fierce, and every time I go to the Post Office, she makes me happy. So, I, er, just wanted t o share.
Thanks for the investigative journalism, Mary! Has anyone else seen any good fat art lately?
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: Art, Feel Good Friday, Guest Post, Question
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I am actually an art education major, and we always have to find new artists when we’re writing lesson plans. I came across the work of Larry Kirkwood, and though it is not fat-specific, it is all about body image. I really love his work, and if you have time to read through his website, I highly recommend it! The one quote that sticks with me is this:
“The notion that body size, skin color, age, etc. alone is a reliable measure of a person’s physical, emotional, and moral well being is simply false. An excellent example is a 35-year-old female I recently worked with. She commented that people continually tell her what a “good body” she has and how “lucky” she is. She wanted to be a part of this project to prove how mistaken that assessment is. She was diagnosed with brain cancer and recently it has spread up her spine and into her ribs and lungs. To make judgments about this person from her appearance totally misses the mark of reality.”
You can view the work yourself here: http://www.kirkwoodstudios.com/index.html
Gaston Lachaise’s “Standing Woman” at the Milwaukee Art Museum. In person, she’s about 7 feet tall.
wups, here’s a link:
http://collection.mam.org/details.php?id=5122
Sad, I didn’t think her big.. just a gorgeous womanly body. Or maybe they are referring to her height?
Regardless, great piece.
Shakesville had something a couple months ago about Niki de Saint Phalle’s “Three Graces,” though I’m having zero luck finding it in the archives. But there are some photos here: http://nikidesaintphalle.org/exhibitions/mobot/resources/podcast_05
Poppy, she’s large — and while *we* don’t think she’s fat, there was a whole brouhaha abuot the Lachaise after a local family blog called her fat. Most of the brouhaha, admittedly, centered on that whole “what is art” question, but there were several sidebars on the history of the Lachaise sculpture, and how “fat” she was and such.
That statue does not make me think of a large woman, just perfectly feminine silhouette…how sad that this is now being tooted as some kind of—wait for it….Big Fat Deal! Cause it’s not, it’s just a statue, of a pretty typically shaped female.
It;s sort of like passing off a 10 as some huge plus size. Ouch.