Critcism And Interpretation Of Gender Consciousness In Klein’s Performance Art

Yves Klein in his “Anthropometry”,devalues and objectifies the female body as a“living brush”,and highlights his male authority as the sole creative subject.Even though Klein himself was distant from the production process,he continued to transform women’s bodies by directing them – not only to be objectified by the male gaze,but also as a form of “passive” expression that ultimately served to reinforce patriarchal values.In response to Klein’s “exploitation” and alienation of women,many artists and feminists have critiqued and questioned it from their own perspectives.This paper analyzes the perspectives and frameworks of different gender consciousness interpretations in art history,and attempts to restore of reproduce the veiled female subjectivity by sorting out important reflection paths and expression strategies,including irony,parody,challenge and criticism.The first chapter of this paper is about the cognitive differences in the study of "subjectivity".Based on Jacques Lacan and Lucy Irigaray’s analysis of "subjectivity" research,this paper explores the decisive role of phallus in the construction of gender subjectivity,and the female subjectivity’s construction.Chapter 2 analyzes Klein’s pursuit of authority and the lack of female subjectivity through his artistic works.In particular,"Anthropometry" compares women to "living brushes." While depriving women of their status as the subject of creation,Klein objectified women,using clothing to maintain the distance from painting objects/models,maintaining the "cleanliness" of his exterior and the sensual atmosphere of his interior works.Chapter 3 explores the different dialogue strategies that female artists use to address Klein’s creative approach.Vanessa Beecroft perpetuates Klein’s "masculine" authority by exploiting women,while Carolee Schneemann and Ana Mendieta challenge Klein’s instrumentalization of the female body through their exploration of the female body and body imprints.The fourth chapter takes the example of Adelaide Damoah,a postmodern black female artist whose body of work can be seen as the most powerful feminist response to Klein’s anthropometrics.From the male director in Klein’s works to Damoah’s transformation as a female protagonist,Damoah redefines the way black women’s bodies are depicted and deconstructs stereotypes,exploring personal histories and reconstructing the genealogy of women as a means of constructing female subjectivity,and at the same time as a postmodern transcendence of Klein’s “anthropometry”.This article not only explores the development of the female body as a mark or symbol in artistic activities,but also explores the interpretation of gender consciousness by different artists in female performance art from the perspective of subjectivity.From the perspective of the objectification of women’s body,it sorts out the development of women’s performance art,and reveals how the female subjectivity in performance art has changed from absence to construction.This paper may have theoretical value and innovation.First of all,in examining the artists’ creations within the system of gender relations,pointing out that artists of different genders have similarities in the structure of their creations but present different gender consciousness.Comparing Klein’s bodyprinted works with damoah’s,to discover the significance of the female body for the construction of subjectivity in different genders.The second is the research on the female artist Adelaide Damoah.At present,there is a lack of analysis of the body marks in her works,and a large number of first-hand materials such as interviews with the artist himself provide a solid foundation and a lot of creative space for this article.