ARTIST: A. NEEL/Female - 2022

MARGINS OF ART HISTORY SERIES

Materials: Monoprints, Ricepaper, Acrylic, Gift Wrapping Paper, Old Masking Tape, Plastic from Library, Vintage Women’s Advice Book

Size: 11”x14”

A tribute to Alice Neel who lived life on her own terms as an artist by rebelling against the traditional expectations for women of her time. She also struggled to be taken seriously in the male dominated art world, especially as a portrait painter during a time when abstraction was more highly valued. I created monoprints from photographs on translucent rice paper which I layered over pages of a 1930 book “The Girl Today, The Woman Tomorrow.” It’s advice book for young women filled with antiquated ideas about women’s place in society and the workforce. I used masking tape to symbolize the roughness of Neels life compared to the lifestyles recommended in the book. Behind everything is a blue stripe sheet of gift wrap I found that reminds me of the blue stripe chair in so many of her portraits, including the famous nude one she did of herself. I wanted it to be softer looking so I layered a transparent Japanese paper over it.