Dimensions: image: 539 x 596 mm support: 565 x 760 mm frame: 650 x 910 x 33 mm
Copyright: © Sarah Lucas | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: This is Sarah Lucas's "Eating a Banana," a black and white photograph held in the Tate. The subject's gaze is so intense. What do you see in this piece, beyond the obvious? Curator: Lucas uses her own body and everyday objects, like this banana, to challenge traditional representations of women. How does this image disrupt conventional notions of femininity and sexuality? Editor: I guess it's not delicate or passive. It's almost confrontational. Curator: Exactly! Lucas is actively engaging with and subverting patriarchal structures. Consider the gaze, the banana, the leather jacket. How do these elements contribute to a redefinition of female agency? Editor: It's powerful to see her reclaiming that space. Curator: Precisely! It makes you think about the politics embedded in something as simple as eating a banana. Editor: I'll never look at fruit the same way.
Comments
Join the conversation
Join millions of artists and users on Artera today and experience the ultimate creative platform.
Sarah Lucas has challenged sexual stereotypes in a series of provocative self-portraits. She turns against the art-historical tradition of the female seductress or muse, and presents herself in a deliberately androgynous, and occasionally aggressive, series of poses. She adopts masculine gestures and stances, and shows herself in unisex clothing like jeans and T-shirts. These images also raise questions about the role and appearance of the modern artist. In contrast to the stereotype of the artist as an anguished male, Lucas shows herself as an ordinary person in emphatically ordinary surroundings. Gallery label, August 2004
CollectMore like this
