Photographer of the Week 5

Hannah Wilke

Hannah Wilke is known for her S.O.S. Starification Object Series. According to tate.org.uk, " In her public performances of this work, documented indirectly by the photographs, Wilke would hand sticks of gum to visitors as they entered the gallery space, before removing her shirt. She would then request the chewed gum from her audience, twisting each piece into a vagina form and sticking it to her bare skin, thus marking herself with a sign. She commented: ‘I chose gum because it’s the perfect metaphor for the American woman – chew her up, get what you want out of her, throw her out and pop in a new piece’" Wilke is often criticized for her narcissism, but she uses this as a way to reclaim the sexualized and objectified female body from the exclusive domain of male sexual desire. 
Sources: https://jenniferlinton.com/2010/12/31/the-art-of-hannah-wilke-feminist-narcissism-and-the-reclamation-of-the-erotic-body/ 
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/wilke-marxism-and-art-beware-of-fascist-feminism-p79357/text-summary
http://www.hannahwilke.com/id5.html