A Hundred Bright Smiles by Irene Hardwicke Olivieri

“Gender” and “Art”, these two words alone seem fairly simple and subtle but contain a world of complexities. Gender is a term often misunderstood, misused or underestimated. As is art, these two terms when translated merely to “painting” or “male and female” are belittled, doing so is in many cases can be offensive almost an insult to ones own intelligence, or an insult to others. The two words are very broad and general if not used properly and since there is no way to regulate a law per-say as to how to use them, they mean different things to different people. As Horowitz said, “Art is as broad as human experience. All of art comes out of life and is bound up with life. Art is meaningful but meaningful in ways that differ from society, from time to time, and from person to person (Horowitz 10). In relating this concept to a specific artwork, perhaps these past statements addressing art and gender will be clarified.

“A hundred bright smiles” created by the American artist, Irene Hardwicke Olivieri was the work I chose. This was the first work I noticed in the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. All of Olivieri’s works were beautifully exhibited but this one in particular caught my eye not only because at first glance I found it aesthetically pleasing but because in few minutes it drew me closer and closer. Once I realized I had no desire to see the surrounding artworks I stepped closer to analyze the artwork in more depth. This work did not speak to me directly, it drew me in, yes but I did not find myself relating to it until after really allowing myself to roam freely in the text, texture, colors, and details of the work. Here I connected to the artwork. This connection reminded me of Horowitz’s quote, “We can connect with art as...

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...nything other than that is unacceptable or whatever contradicts it is “wrong” as gender, like art can not be so easily classified and labeled.

Works Cited

Barnet, Sylvan. A Short Guide to Writing about Art. Ninth ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2008. Print.

Bornstein, Kate, and S. Bear Bergman. Gender Outlaws: The next Generation. Berkeley, CA: Seal, 2010. Print.

Horowitz, Frederick A. More than You See: A Guide to Art. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1985. Print.

R., Leppert. "In The Nude: The Cultural Rhetoric of the Body in the Art of Western Modernity." THE NUDE. N.p.: Boulder, CO: Westview., 2007. 1-8. Print.

West, Candace, and Don H. Zimmerman. "Doing Gender." JSTOR. N.p., June 1987. Web. 07 May 2014.

Yerman, Marcia G. "A Conversation with Irene Hardwicke Olivieri." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 24 Apr. 2014. Web. 07 May 2014.