When women were only the subjects for art, it was provocative if their gazes met those of the viewers.In the post-Feminist art of the 1990s, however, viewers can have pictures taken of themselves with Annie Sprinkle's tits on their heads (aptly... [more]

When women were only the subjects for art, it was provocative if their gazes met those of the viewers.In the post-Feminist art of the 1990s, however, viewers can have pictures taken of themselves with Annie Sprinkle's tits on their heads (aptly called "Tits on the Head" shots). After generations of women artists labored to "de-gender" their content and styles, the first wave of revolutionary Feminist artists such as Judy Chicago and Faith Ringgold placed gender issues front-and-center. Now, the new wave of Bad Girl artists create art that confronts the sex and gender issues that exist in the texts around us: from language to "typical" behavior patterns to other arts -- and, yes, to sex. Annie Sprinkle celebrates sex and sees sexual liberation as key to the new world order. The ex-porn star's Performance art explores the issues and taboos surrounding sex (forget the old-school beaver shot, visitors to her performances now get to take a gander at her cervix). One of her latest pieces is a documentary on orgasm. Janine Antoni's installation piece, "Swoon", is described as an "inquiry into the assumptions about gender" that uses classical ballet as "a sign for a heavily coded modernity". Each room of the space is dark and draped with heavy curtains. A video of two dancers performing a pas-de-deux is shown, at first obscured except for the footwork, which is reflected in a mirror. The only audio is of the dance's physicality: the footwork and breathing of the dancers fills the space with erotic energy. As the video continues, the man and the woman switch places and roles within the traditional dance. Many Bad Girl artists, including Sprinkle, Antoni, and Karen Finley, use newer mediums such as Performance art and Video art. The Guerilla Girls, Jenny Holzer, and the late Hannah Wilke used posters and other mass-produced media to distribute their politically-charged content to the widest possible audiences. These new media don't have traditions to buck, allowing the artists to create art independent in both form and content. [show less]