CONTEMPORARY FEMALE ARTISTS

British Contemporary Female Artists

ABSTRACT

Art is a trigger for the mechanism of remembering. Artistic works are landmarks in the topography of collective memory. Art was man's field in which women served as muse, model, and inspiration. To some degree, at least in the beginning of her career, Eliot was able to skirt many of the issues that plagued the female writer. Eliot moved freely in intellectual circles and throughout her life maintained an active exchange with leading minds. The articles she published were done so anonymously, in accordance with the practice of the day. Her adoption of a male pseudonym for her novels further protected her from scrutiny and for her first two novels her identity was unknown. However, her relationship with the married George Henry Lewes compromised her reputation in a way that society found unpardonable. Perhaps to avoid further scrutiny and criticism, Eliot always kept her heroines in alignment with the dominant ideology of her day.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACTii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

1.1Background1

1.2Research Aims and Objectives1

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW2

2.1British Art2

2.2Female British Artists2

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY9

3.1Search Technique9

CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION10

CHAPTER 5: RESEARCH ETHICS12

REFERENCES13

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Background

Contemporary artists in the UK are known for being outgoing and proactive. They adopt a critical approach to art history by engaging actively with the art audience. Their artworks often reflect on or respond to social or cultural issues, trying to create a dialogue between contemporary art and the society. Their works are confident, often brash, thoughtful, sometimes shocking, but always challenging. These characteristics are common in many artists and their works.

Research Aims and Objectives

The objective of this research is to examine how female British contemporary artists express ideas about love and intimacy.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

British Art

Given the current hype surrounding new British art, it is hard to imagine that the audience for contemporary art was relatively small until only two decades ago. Predominantly conservative tastes across the country had led to instances of open hostility towards contemporary art. For example, the public and the media were outraged in 1976 when they learned that the Tate Gallery had acquired Carl Andre's Equivalent VIII (the bricks). Lagging behind the international contemporary art scene, Britain was described as 'a cultural backwater' by art critic Sarah Kent. A number of significant British artists had to build their reputation abroad before being taken seriously at home. To make matters worse, the 1980s saw severe cutbacks in public funding for the arts and for individual artists. Furthermore, the art market was hit by the economic recession in 1989. For the thousands of art school students completing their degrees around that time, career prospects did not look promising. Yet ironically, it was the worrying economic situation, and the relative indifference to contemporary art practice in Britain, that were to prove ideal conditions for the emergence of British Art.

Female British Artists

Although the importance of art in the life and oeuvre of George Eliot has been well documented, there is no comprehensive work that examines the figure of the artist in her novels and ...