Vesna Bukovec: Do you not want me, because I’m critical

Series of 16 drawings, ink on paper, 21 x 29,7 cm, 2012

The work brings forward the paradoxical position of women who in various everyday life situations in contemporary society still often encounter disapproval and resistance. Today’s stereotypical identity roles and their (un)acceptablity are conditioned by the male gaze which influences generally accepted standards of behaviour or social status. I have taken different cliché images of women which have been reproduced from Internet-based “stock” photography archives, like the ones frequently utilised in the media and in advertising.

The series was inspired by the comic strip Tinza, which Marko Pogačnik published in Problemi [Problems] journal (No. 83-84, p. 692-702) in 1969. During the sexual revolution, the author treated the visible “subject of woman” from a man’s perspective and programmatically and simplistically dealt with clichés, consumerism, and the imaginary constructs of desire.* The sexy naked woman in Pogačnik’s strip asks, do we not want her, because she loves airplanes, prostitutes, generals, press conferences, glass eyes, etc. The women in my drawings conclude that we do not want them because they are pregnant, naive, depressed, or want a higher salary.

*Miško Šuvaković, Skrite zgodovine skupine OHO (The Clandestine Histories of the OHO Group, Slovenian edition), Zavod P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E., Ljubljana, 2009, p. 82.

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Vesna Bukovec (1977) graduated in 2002 and completed her MFA in 2006 from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana. She works independently and in the art group KOLEKTIVA (with Metka Zupanič and Lada Cerar). Her artistic work finds its expression in a variety of media (drawing, video, installation) and approaches (research, appropriation, participation, etc.). She presented her work in several solo and group exhibitions locally and internationally.

Artist's web page:: www.vesna-bukovec.net