When comparing the three artists, Cui Xiuwen, Mairna Abamovic and Frida Kahlo, I find that each brings a measure of pain to their work. At varying levels, they show us that pain in their portraiture. While Abramovic, dubbed “The Queen of Pain” by one art critic, is known for her intentional forbearance of self-punishing performances, Frida Kahlo suffered uninvited and serious physical pain for most of her life. Kahlo’s self-portraits often elicit a sympathetic response of pain from viewers as she puts the inadequacies of her body on display. Cui Xiuwen seems more lighthearted than the others, given her more recent work of pale pastel portraits of young pregnant girls. Her earlier works, however, display a pain from the oppression of political regimes in her images of battered schoolgirls.
When Abramovic endured difficult times in her actual life, she chose to document their impact on her life. When she and her soon to be ex-husband were divorcing, they performed their separation by walking 2000 kilometers toward each other on the Great Wall of China to say goodbye. In this piece as in others, she seeks to endure a hardship to come out stronger and wiser. I see in her work a longing for some hard to reach goal. These strivings she presents in performances that are portraits of the feelings she undergoes, such as those in The Lips of Thomas, in which she alternately cuts, flagellates, and freezes herself. She seems to want the audience to think about what she is going through and feel her experience. In speaking about the recent economic difficulties, Abramovic points out that hard times often result in great art and she pushes herself into this state willingly.
Kahlo, on the other hand has been dealt a lot of suffering and perhaps for her, because it was unbidden, she needs to show it to the world. Her frequent use of death imaery suggest an obsession with dying and contrast to Abramovic’s search for painful experiences. While Abramovic uses actual performance, including many of long duration, Kahlo sums up a host of uncomfortable thoughts and memories in a single painting as in Tree of Hope or Henry Ford Hospital. Her strong colors and use of Mexican folk symbols combine to show us what trouble she’s been through and is still experiencing in regards to her body, her marriage and he conflicted feels
about her dual heritage. To me, she is much more straightforward in her imagery than either Abramovic or Xiuwen.
Xiuwen’s Lady’s Room video of prostitutes primping and adjusting themselves in the bathroom of a Beijing disco, implies the pain, both physical and emotional, that comes from the work they do. They are preparing for the encounter with supreme focus, as if preparing for a battle. This pseudo-documentary work also highlights the general difficulty of being a woman in Chinese society. The school girl series, including One Day in 2004, No. 6, seems to indicate hardships borne by the girl(s). The official “Young Pioneers” attire speaks of some kind of authoritarian dictate.
While each shows us what it is to endure pain, all three artists also show us how growth can be gained artistically and personally through the experience of such difficult times. Xiuwen uses the schoolgirl to make us think about growing, as the girls look to be wiser than their years. To me it implies that they have to “grow up” to understand the ills of society. Abromovic often has a triumphant look at the end of one of her pieces, as if she has achieved a transformation. As for Kahlo, perhaps by constantly painting her deepest fears and frailties, she herself grew in her ability to communicate feelings through her artwork.
Here's my treatment of the word "grow". I hope that it inspires some of you to go out and grow something when you get home from school! I enjoyed making this so much I did a few other logos as well. These treatments of "hyper" and "remember" were very quick ideas, but I thought I'd post the
m as well.
