Course description
This course aims to
This course takes as its core source the range of goddess figures, and examines their variety and cultural importance. In order
to achieve this we take a range of approaches. There will be a discussion of Jung and the idea of archetypes and myth. A
consideration of how these relate to the goddess will be considered. A further investigation will explore how history affects the
image, and the changing themes of the goddess - inclusions and omissions - will be discussed. The idea of the woman as
domestic worker, and the themed imagery of mothers as educators and the source of affective relationships which develop
during the 18th and 19th Century will also be central to discussions of this period. As an opposition to these themes which
uphold a certain type of ideology, the opposite personas of the whore and the femme-fatale both in religious and secular art
and literature are positioned within the wider discourses which develop during the 1880s and continue into the new century.
Other imagery to be investigated is that of women as both warriors and victims, and an appraisal of the popularity of this
image will be made. A further area of debate is the different responses to all of these themes made by male and female
artists. An examination here may be as to whether accepted conventions are upheld or challenged. Finally there will be an
exploration of women's self portraits, and these will be looked at in relationship to those representations of women and women
artists made by men. This last section will consider, within its boundaries, the issues that surround the female nude, and the
idea of the male colonisation of the female body in art.
There will be a gallery visit each term.
What materials will I need?
LIBRARY
Students are advised not to buy books until they attend their first session.
Saunders G, The Nude (a new Perspective), Herbert 1990
Borzello F, A World of Our Own (Women as Artists), Thames and Hudson 2000
Borzello F, Seeing Ourselves, Thames and Hudson 2001
Baring A & Cashford J, The Myth of the Goddess - Evolution of an Image
Contact details for this course
Please contact GAE to enrol on this course or for more information.
Contact name
Support Officer Oliver Fisher
Post
Brighton Junction,
Isetta Square,
Brighton,
BN1 4GQ
Telephone
01273 810210
