Tuesday, April 27, 2010

No Boobs Necessary.


I know I've talked about this before, but I have to gush about it a bit more. It's damn exciting to have a major international Art museum opening up down the street from your house! I'm not ashamed to admit that I go the city's website to peek in on live webcam footage at least once a week.

After several years of delays, The Centre Pompidou-Metz is set to open in less than two weeks.


5April 2010

These hilarious posters have been popping up around town within the last week. There's also an Andy Warhol version. Translation: "I'm moving to Metz."



4April 2010

My question: Is there not ONE female artist that could have been used in the marketing campaign? These specific artists were chosen because their faces and/or public personas are just as recognisable as their actual artworks.

What woman artist do you think the general public would easily recognise?

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

At first I was upset because I couldn't think of a highly visible female artist, and now I'm upset because all I've come up with is Yoko Ono.

Alison said...

Frida Kahlo?

Carrie said...

I've got a shortlist of female artists that even as a stretch might not be physically recognizable in NY. I guess the point of the campaign is the recognizability of the artist themselves, not the art, targeted to the person who goes to museums once or twice a year and would run to a Dali or a Picasso show but probably not Kara Walker, Louise Bourgeois, Diane Arbus, Georgia O'Keeffe, or Niki de Saint Phalle (esp. in France). Not that they wouldn't love those shows...but a) they wouldn't know what the artists look like (except Frieda Kahlo and her famous unibrow) and b) it wouldn't drive them to go.

Megan said...

Well, I don't think I would recognize the photos of ANY artist, male or female, but I admit I recognized the names. Hmm, can't think of any female artists right off the bat. Sad.

Unknown said...

I was going to say Frida too. A big lurid flower painting would remind me of Georgia O'Keefe but I have no idea what she looked like. Maybe women artists (except Yoko) aren't as into the cult of personality?

Risse said...

I don't think it's got to do with them being recognizable (I don't know how many people have seen pictures of Picasso... I'd actually be surprised if a lot of people have). Dali is a different story. I think Kahlo would be the best though, because anyone who's seen her work knows what she looks like.

I think since the names of the artists are included, any female artist who is fairly well known (like Kara Walker, O'Keefe, maybe Lee Krasner, maybe even Carolee Schneemann, although that might be a stretch) would work. In that case, maybe the artists they choose is based on whose work they actually have? It would be difficult to imagine they don't have any work by famous female artists.

Shanster said...

Like everyone else I was like female artist?? But then Frida popped in my head along with O'Keefe... shew! And I did watch a Camille Claudel movie in college so I recognize her name too!

Tho' none of the men look familiar to me either. Artist names I recognize but faces not so much.

I'm excited for you! How is your gallery/store going that you opened with a friend? I was thinking of that the other day...

Cheers!

BlondeInFrance said...

I think more people know Frida Kahlo because of the movie. And if they put up the picture of Louise Bourgeois with her "fillette" sculpture, that would definitely get a few people running to see! I'd like to think as well that female artists are more known for their work than their public personna, it's just a shame they're using "big names" to get people to go, making it more about numbers than content.

Anonymous said...

My first thought was Frida Kahlo as well. The movie and her unibrow makes her a recognizable figure.

tonton_flaneur said...

Je suis vachement d'accord avec toi!! Where is the female representation? For a face of women in art I guess it would have to be Louise Bourgeois, Georgia O'Keefe, Frida Kahlo, and my favorites..Louise Nevelson and Tamara de Lempicka!! Have fun with all of this!! ;-)

Madame K said...

Ok, so the only artist I thought of (like many of you) was Frida Kahlo. The eyebrows make her an icon.

Also contemporary artists like Kara Walker and Carolee Schneemann seem basically unknown here...it's INSANE!

To be fair, I'm not knocking the Pompidoo marketing team. I understand that museums have a tough job. They have to use big names to draw in the general public/uneducated masses. Look--we all have bills to pay. (By the by it costs a SH*tload of money to run an art museum. Like a staggering psychotic amount. The electric bills alone would make you pee your pants if you saw them.) I just wish there was some way they could entertain AND educate the public at the same time. They have one of the best collections on earth---please thrill us!

dougphoto said...

Frida for sure but also Cindy Sherman and Lorna Simpson do self portraits not so much anymore for Lorna but in her early work lots. Also George okeef she was photographed so much. She has a very well known face think of the Irving Penn portrait of her or the anslem Adams one.

anji said...

Frida....

In Canada we have Emily Carr... but women usually weren't so quirky enough (in the past) to do well, quirky photos. Hmm - if it had any photography, maybe annie lebovitz...?