Hannah Hoch
ARTIST (1889-1978)
Hannah Hoch was a German artist who was
best known for her work of the Weimar period,
as one of the originators of photomontage.
Höch's work was intended to dismantle the
fable and dichotomy that existed in the
concept of the "New Woman" an energetic,
professional, and androgynous woman, who
is ready to take her place as man's equal. Her
interest in the topic was in how the dichotomy
was structured, as well as in who structures
social roles. Many of her pieces sardonically
critiqued the mass culture beauty industry of
the time, then gaining significant momentum
in mass media through the rise of fashion and
advertising photography. Many of her political
works from the Dada period equated women's
liberation with social and political revolution.
Höch also made strong statements on racial
discrimination.
Cindy Sherman
PHOTOGRAPHER (1954 - present)
Cindy Sherman is an American artist whose
work consists primarily of photographic selfportraits,
depicting herself in many different
contexts and as various imagined characters.
Sherman's work is often linked to feminism,
since her photos call attention to the
objectification of women in the media.
Sherman's 1981 series Centerfolds contains
pseudo-voyeuristic images of young women.
Many scholars emphasize the relationship
Cindy Sherman's work has with the concept of
the gaze. Sherman herself has identified an
uncertainty toward the Untitled series'
relationship with the male gaze. Sherman's
work is often credited as a major influence for
contemporary portrait.
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