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Author
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Comment
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lizzie ault
Unregistered User
(6/24/04 7:32 am)
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fairy tales and contemporary art
I am writing my dissertation on Paula Rego, Cindy Sherman and Kiki Smith and their use of fairy tales in their art. I don't know if anyone is familiar with their work, but they all use themes and characters from mythology and folklore in a way that turns convention on its head.
While researching the subject I have found that any writing on it is from the 70s and 80s and it is very difficult to find any modern interpretations. It would be great to find some discussion on the use of fairy tales in art linked with feminist movements as well. Can anyone help?
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Terri
Windling
Registered User
(6/24/04 7:43 am)
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Re: fairy tales and contemporary art
There are a lot of fans of these three artists on this board. I don't personally know of any recent studies looking at the fairy tales in their work, but if anyone else here does, I'd be interested to know about it too. Has Marina Warner written about this? I know she's a close friend of Rego's.
In addition to these artists, I'm a big fan of Jacqueline Morreau,
who came out of the feminist art movement in Britain in the 1970s
and '80s, and who uses a lot of mythic themes. There's an article
on her in the new edition of the Endicott site: www.endicott-studio.com/jMA04Summer/gMythAndMetaphor.html
Lizzie, I hope you'll keep us posted on the progress of your disseration. It sounds fascinating.
Are studies of fairy tales in contemporary women's literature (including
feminist literature) of use to you? There has certainly been some
good work written on that subject -- such as Elizabeth Wanning Harries'
Twice Upon a Time: Women
Writers and the History of the Fairy Tale and the Marvels
& Tales issue devoted to fairy tales in the work of Angela
Carter. There's also the lovely collection Mirror,
Mirror on the Wall: Women Writers Explore Their Favorite Fairy ,
with essays by contemporary writers such as Atwood, Oates, and Byatt,
edited by Kate Bernheimer.
Edited by: Terri Windling at: 6/24/04 7:58 am
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Helen
J Pilinovsky
Registered User
(6/24/04 2:08 pm)
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Marina Warner
During her time at Columbia last fall, Marina Warner spoke on Paula Rego and Kiki Smith several times (I'm afraid that I don't remember her mentioning Cindy Sherman, but, then I didn't have the chance to attend all of the lectures, unfortunately); she mentioned that the talks would be collected in a forthcoming publication. She wasn't focusing on fairy tales per se , but rather more on issues of ethereality and metamorphosis, but she did reference their work in relation to folklore as well as the ongoing developments in art that touched upon the latter two areas. Good luck!
Best,
Helen
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