Starting today, the ARKEN Museum for Modern Art focuses on the changing representation of women in art. Women in Change takes on the questions during an art historical and sociological time travel through the representation of women: What does it mean to be a woman today? What is feminine? Who defines what femininity is? Who can be female? And is femininity gender-specific at all?
The exhibition begins chronologically with the breakthrough of modernism in the late nineteenth century and ends with more recent, contemporary art. The focus, as the title suggests, is on the ongoing change in society's perception of women and gender roles, which is also overtly evident in art. Furthermore, the ARKEN Museum pushes not only the artistic reflection of change, but also the reactions and resistance that new representations often experienced. They range from impressionist portraiture to performative body art, and from lush nude studies to critical examinations of them. From the women's movement in 1870 to the #MeToo debate, Women in Change addresses the various stages of the perception of femininity, gender identity and body ideals.
The exhibits include works by Danish and international artists - among them Arvida Byström, Louise Bourgeois, Frida Orupoba, Cindy Sherman and Tabita Rezaire.
