The Un-Heroic Act: Representations of Rape in Contemporary Women’s Art

Brooklyn Rail - Art Review - September 22, 2018

Carolee Thea, Sabine Woman, 1991. Chicken wire, electrical wire, sockets, bulbs, sound, dimensions variable. ©1991/2018 Carolee Thea. Courtesy the artist.

At the entrance to The Un-Heroic Act: Representations of Rape in Contemporary Women’s Art in the U.S., on view at the Shiva Gallery at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the viewer is accosted with a distressing scene: Four men restrain a woman, who lies prone on the floor. A fifth man looms over her body, penetrating her, while a sixth stands behind the action stimulating himself, apparently awaiting his turn. That each individual is composed of chicken wire does not lessen, but rather amplifies, the barbarity in this installation, made by Carolee Thea: the anonymity of the figures and lack of background detail suggests that rape can affect any woman, any place, anywhere.

Read more: https://brooklynrail.org/2018/10/artseen/The-Un-Heroic-Act-Representations-of-Rape-in-Contemporary-Womens-Art-in-the-US