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‘I wanted my work to be shameless’: 93-year-old artist Joan Semmel on her trailblazing nudes
In the 1970s, the painter shocked the art world with paintings modeled on her own nude body. Now in her 10th decade, she’s celebrated as a feminist pioneer
TL;DR
- Joan Semmel, at 93, is celebrated as a feminist pioneer for her nude paintings modeled on her own body.
- Her latest exhibition, 'Continuities,' showcases her signature elements: gesture, doubling, transparency, and abstraction.
- Semmel's work from her 10th decade unashamedly depicts aging, such as sagging skin and breasts.
- Her monumental triptych 'Mythologies and Me' (1976) was a response to a gallerist who questioned the political statement of a nude.
- Initially, Semmel's work was not accepted by museums but is now highly sought after.
- She draws parallels between the fight for gender equality and the dystopian "The Handmaid's Tale."
- Semmel studied painting in New York and spent the 1960s in Madrid, where patriarchal restrictions influenced her awareness of systemic limitations on women.
- Returning to New York in 1970, she became involved in feminist art groups addressing gender and racial disparities.
- Her stylistic shift to figuration and creation of an "erotic visual language" aimed to liberate the nude and give women sexual agency.
- In 1973, Semmel rented her own storefront to exhibit her work when galleries were unwilling.
- From 1974, she used herself as the subject for her 'Self Images' series, focusing on realism and avoiding the objectification of other women.
- Semmel's 'Self Images' series predates selfies and plays with the dynamic of the viewer and the viewed.
- Despite physical limitations, Semmel continues to paint prolifically, driven by her compulsion to create.