Issue 15 - Pdf Ctrl+P - CTRL+P: a journal of contemporary art

Yuskavage. True Blonde (1999).
Yuskavage. Imprint (2006)
at different ages shown to us simultaneously? Perhaps this is why Yuskavage has begun
painting two figures in some of her recent works such as Imprint (2006). As Yuskavage
suggested to an interviewer: “I would put out the possibility that there are not two figures.
That there is one figure, one entity. It’s the idea of caring for oneself or struggling
with oneself” (Scott, 2006). Imprint is my favorite Yuskavage painting—so poetic in its
representation of the two ages of a woman—the forty-something clinging to her youth
which looks ambivalently on the older woman she is to become.
The woman in True Blonde may appear, at first glance to be masturbating, but on
second glance, she also appears rather introspective and her almost stereotypical (but as
always in a Yuskavage), imperfect body is more like that of Day. Perhaps she is a magazine
model—but one saddened by her occupation pondering other possibilities. Further,
in most pornographic imagery she would appear in stockings and the black shadow line
falling over her left thigh may indeed be Yuskavage’s way of entreating us to think about
that. This might be a woman protecting her sexuality from the viewer, keeping one of her
powers and her pleasures to herself. If this were an image in a pornographic magazine
then it is quite likely that the woman’s sexual organs would be exposed and a much more
explicit image of masturbation would be shown. In those images the woman typically
looks into the camera with her air brushed misty eyes.
There is also the title “True Blonde” which plays upon the old witticism that the
only way to know the true colour of a woman’s hair is to see her pubic area. In this case,
we are prevented from seeing this area by the sitter herself. For all we know this may be
an image of a woman coming to contemplate her own powers, desires, fantasies. Maybe
Yuskavage’s art is about the women—not the viewer!
It seems that whatever her motivations and intentions, Lisa Yuskavage has managed
to be understood as a sexist and a feminist at the same time, although the painter
does not seem to identify her art with feminism: “There’s nothing more real than politics,
and my work is not about what’s real,” she says (Scott, 2006). Eschewing politics for
fiction, her work is likely to offend the orthodox feminist as it is the stereotypical “old
white male conservative.” This, to my mind, is among the best things about Yuskavage’s
work. Like many artists (be they writers, painters, photographers etc.), Yuskavage does
not seek an empirical or a political resolution to the world in her art—but rather—a
poetic one. Inviting multiple and complex readings, Yuskavage cultivates, intentionally
or otherwise, uncertainty. The kind of pleasant uncertainty that stimulates debate and
engagement with art. As Jean Baudrillard would understand the world is given to us as
enigmatic and unintelligible—why cannot the task of thought (including poetry, fiction,
painting) be to make the world even more enigmatic, more unintelligible? (2000:83; see
also 1996:105; and 2001:155)
Conclusion
Perhaps in our Patriot Act, post-September 11, 2001 world, the critics
(especially those located in New York), prefer their art on the lighter side. I
have a feeling that if a pre-Raphaelite were to emerge in New York s/he would
be highly celebrated at this time. Painters react to the times in which they live.
Yuskavage has her way, the escapists have theirs. Robert Rauschenberg worried
that every new thing he learned about art placed a certain limit on him. This is
true of everything we learn no matter how useful or valuable it may be. Much
of the negative critical response to Lisa Yuskavage’s art reminds me of another
woman artist—Jenny Holtzer and one of her “Truisms”: “you are a victim of
the rules you live by.”
One critic recently said (not supportively) that Yuskavage was a good example
of the Andy Warhol quip: “Art is what you can get away with” (Naves,
2003). The same may also be said about art criticism. In any event Yuskavage
does not seem to be paying much attention to the critics and in her interview with
Enright she also cited Warhol when asked how she felt about the critics. She said
she hoped they spelled her name correctly and otherwise does not worry about
what the critics are saying—simply measure it in press column inches (Enright,
2007).
26 Ctrl+P September 2009