Feminist Art in Resistance : Aesthetics, Methods and Politics of Art in Turkey

This book provides a thorough interdisciplinary analysis of the ways in which artists have engaged with political and feminist grassroots movements to characterise a new direction in the production of feminist art. The authors conceptualise feminist art in Turkey through the lens of feminist philosophy by offering a historical analysis of how feminism and art interacts, analysing emerging feminist artwork and exploring the ways in which feminist art as a form opens alternative political spaces of social collectivities and dissent, to address epistemic injustices. The book also explores how the global art and feminist movements (particularly in Europe) have manifested themselves in the art scenery of Turkey and argues that feminist art has transformed into a form of political and protest art which challenges the hegemonic masculinity dominating the aesthetic debates and political sphere. It is an invaluable reading for students and scholars of sociology of art, gender studies and political sociology. Elif Dastarlı is Art Historian/Critic at Association Internationale des Critiques d'Art, Turkey. F. Melis Cin is Senior Lecturer in Gender, Development and Education at Lancaster University, UK. Praise for Feminist Art in Resistance 6 Acknowledgments 7 Contents 9 List of Figures 10 About the Authors 12 1: Introduction: Feminism and Art in Political Space 14 A Brief Discussion of Feminist Art: Meanings, Tensions, and Complexities 18 Against the Canon: Feminist Aesthetics 25 Feminist Art Epistemology 28 Feminist Production and Critique of Public Sphere 30 A Guide to the Book 34 2: Her-Story of Turkish Art 36 A Struggle for Existence 36 Transformation of Art in Modern Turkey 38 Rethinking Canonical Art History 40 Transitioning from an Artistic Object to a Social Subject 44 What Has Changed in Modern Turkey? 47 The Rise of Feminism 51 3: Feminist Aesthetics in Contemporary Art 55 The Assertions of Feminist Aesthetics Theory 56 Feminine, Female, or Feminist? 59 The Avantgarde Roots 65 4: Style, Aesthetics, and Methods in Feminist Art 72 Periodic Differences 73 Two Main Aspects of Feminist Art 77 Many Contexts and Strategies of Feminist Art 82 Women’s Bodies 83 Ritualised Violence 87 Political and Social Identities 90 Sexuality and Abjection 95 Domestic and Family Life 97 Male Violence 106 Discussions on Feminist Art Strategies 109 5: Creating a Feminist Public Sphere: Three Modes of Feminist Resistance 115 Introduction 115 A Site for Critical Publicity 117 A Site for Collective Practice and Production 123 Artivism and Mobilisation of Public for Dissent 133 Conclusion 140 6: Epistemologies of Feminist Art and Epistemic Injustices 141 Epistemic Misrecognition of Women Artists 142 Epistemic Resistances and Activism as Political Agents 149 Art, Political Subjectivities and Resistance 151 Art as an Epistemological Act 158 7: Conclusion: Going Forward with Feminist Art 163 Beyond the Rhetoric of Great Male Artists 166 Political Responsibility of Artists 168 The Future of Feminist Art 170 References 173 Interviews 181 Index 183