Melanie Vasa

Gender and the Written Word in Recent Art: Language Versus Politics Melanie Vasa

Words began to be used extensively by artists in the 1960s. The Conceptual artists used words to critique language as well as what one sees. As the Conceptual art practitioners moved on in the 1970s, a new use of language emerged in art. When examining the use of text as or in art from the 1970s through to the early 21st century, the gender of the artist appears to play a role in the intention and application of the text. While male artists continue to focus on language itself - continuing in the methods of the Conceptualists, and many of them the original Conceptualists - women artists are generally concerned with the message conveyed by those words, whether alone or in conjunction with imagery. Does the gender of the artist hint at the intention and the use of the text? Does gender play a role in whether the use of language will focus on the word as art medium or as the message conveyed?