PUSSY GRABS BACKUrban Cow Studio
|
|
Modern femininity and feminism at a crisis point. Nothing reflects this crisis more than Donald Trump winning a staggering 52% of the white female vote in the 2016 United States presidential election (CNN Politics 2016), despite being unapologetic when calling women “pigs”, “slobs” and “disgusting animals” (Time Magazine 2016), and bragging that powerful men can grab women “by the pussy” (New York Times 2016).
Directly following Trump’s inauguration, women and men of all backgrounds took to the streets at the Women’s March on Washington, armed with homemade signs and banners bearing slogans such as, “Riot, girl”, “Viva la vulva” and “Pussy Grabs Back”. The March on Washington spread to cities across the United States and even worldwide prompting splinter campaigns like Women’s March Global and an acknowledgement of the day as the ‘International Day of Action’ (Khomami 2017). Yet some women still stand by their decision to vote for Trump and believe that protesters need to ‘get over it and move on’ (Savidge 2017).
Pussy Grabs Back is a series of drawings and paintings that highlight both the persuasive energy of protesters as well as the increasing level of cognitive dissonance that is shaping the discourse of modern feminism. Monochrome contour line drawings reduce the image of the modern woman nearly to the point of being a cartoon. These drawings are juxtaposed against paintings filled with bold blocks of colour and line that illustrate the energy, passion, anger and compassion of the modern woman living in an undeniably sexist world.
As a US Citizen living in Australia, Radzevicius’ work offers a connection with the millions of women and men in America and around the world who continue to protest during this upsetting and tumultuous period in modern history. Gesture, line and both the presence and absence of colour attempt to soothe and inspire at the cusp of a new women's movement.
Directly following Trump’s inauguration, women and men of all backgrounds took to the streets at the Women’s March on Washington, armed with homemade signs and banners bearing slogans such as, “Riot, girl”, “Viva la vulva” and “Pussy Grabs Back”. The March on Washington spread to cities across the United States and even worldwide prompting splinter campaigns like Women’s March Global and an acknowledgement of the day as the ‘International Day of Action’ (Khomami 2017). Yet some women still stand by their decision to vote for Trump and believe that protesters need to ‘get over it and move on’ (Savidge 2017).
Pussy Grabs Back is a series of drawings and paintings that highlight both the persuasive energy of protesters as well as the increasing level of cognitive dissonance that is shaping the discourse of modern feminism. Monochrome contour line drawings reduce the image of the modern woman nearly to the point of being a cartoon. These drawings are juxtaposed against paintings filled with bold blocks of colour and line that illustrate the energy, passion, anger and compassion of the modern woman living in an undeniably sexist world.
As a US Citizen living in Australia, Radzevicius’ work offers a connection with the millions of women and men in America and around the world who continue to protest during this upsetting and tumultuous period in modern history. Gesture, line and both the presence and absence of colour attempt to soothe and inspire at the cusp of a new women's movement.
References
CNN Politics 2016, Exit Polls: Election 2016, accessed 12 February 2017, http://edition.cnn.com/election/results/exit-polls
Khomami N 2017. ‘Protests around the world show solidarity with Women’s March on Washington’, The Guardian, accessed 19 May 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/21/protests-around-world-show-solidarity-with-womens-march-on-washington.
New York Times, 2016. Transcript: Donald Trump’s taped comments about women’, New York Times, accessed 20 May 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/08/us/donald-trump-tape-transcript.html.
Savidge, M 2017, ‘Women Trump voters praise U.S. President’, CNN, accessed 18 May 2017, http://edition.cnn.com/videos/us/2017/02/04/women-voters-for-trump-martin-savidge-pkg.cnn.
Time Magazine, 2016. Transcript: read the full text of the prime time republican debate’, Time Magazine, accessed 20 May 2016, http://time.com/3988276/republican-debate-primetime-transcript-full-text/.
CNN Politics 2016, Exit Polls: Election 2016, accessed 12 February 2017, http://edition.cnn.com/election/results/exit-polls
Khomami N 2017. ‘Protests around the world show solidarity with Women’s March on Washington’, The Guardian, accessed 19 May 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/21/protests-around-world-show-solidarity-with-womens-march-on-washington.
New York Times, 2016. Transcript: Donald Trump’s taped comments about women’, New York Times, accessed 20 May 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/08/us/donald-trump-tape-transcript.html.
Savidge, M 2017, ‘Women Trump voters praise U.S. President’, CNN, accessed 18 May 2017, http://edition.cnn.com/videos/us/2017/02/04/women-voters-for-trump-martin-savidge-pkg.cnn.
Time Magazine, 2016. Transcript: read the full text of the prime time republican debate’, Time Magazine, accessed 20 May 2016, http://time.com/3988276/republican-debate-primetime-transcript-full-text/.