A three-foot phallus in a child’s dress seems like an unlikely symbol of female empowerment, but for artist Renate Bertlmann its presence at a major art show is a sign she has gained an acceptance denied her for decades.
LONDON (Reuters) – A three-foot phallus in a child&rsquo-s dress seems like an unlikely symbol of female empowerment, but for artist Renate Bertlmann its presence at a major art show is a sign she has gained an acceptance denied her for decades.
Bertlmann, 74, is one an all-female group of artists featured in a new section of this year&rsquo-s London&rsquo-s Frieze art fair that focuses on feminist artists whose overt sexual themes saw them censored and excluded from mainstream shows in the past.
&ldquo-My work was really rejected in the 70s and into the 80s because people were afraid of my topics: sexuality, religion, feminism. It took obviously 40, 50 years that they recognize that the works are worth looking at,&rdquo- Bertlmann told Reuters.
&ldquo-I appreciate very much that I get wonderful exhibitions, or I&lsquo-m shown here in Frieze. Ten years ago it would have been impossible.&rdquo-
The London Frieze is a commercial art fair that features exhibitions by over 160 international galleries and 1,000 artists.
&ldquo-Sex Work: Feminist Art & Radical Politics&rdquo- is the name of the section included this year that features works including casts of intimate body parts and images of sexually explicit cakes.
Despite the artists&rsquo- feminist agenda, many found that they were not embraced by the feminist movements of their day.
&ldquo-I was somewhat on the fringe always, and, I think, a bit questionable to some of the more militant feminists, because I was bringing my sexuality to the table,&rdquo- artist Penny Slinger said.
Highlighting the increasing mainstream acceptance of sexually explicit feminist art – four works from the exhibition were acquired for the collection of Britain&rsquo-s Tate museum.
&ldquo-The question now is if this will be seen more broadly as important art and not &lsquo-important art with a feminist asterisk&rsquo-, but I think that is happening,&rdquo- said gallery owner David Lewis, who sold the Tate one of the works it acquired this week, a collage by artist Mary Beth Edelson.
The fair runs until Oct. 8.
(The story has been corrected to fix typo in final sentence)
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