The #MeToo Moment: Art Inspired by the Reckoning

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/12/us/reader-art-inspired-by-the-metoo-moment-sexual-harassment.html

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Today, we present artwork inspired by the cultural reckoning — made by you, our readers.

Judy Chicago established the first known feminist-art program in the United States, in the fall of 1970, at the California Institute of the Arts. Later, she formed the art collective known as “Womanhouse” because, as she put it, “women artists were simply not taken seriously.”

Two decades later, the Guerrilla Girls forced attention to the fine art world’s gender and racial disparity with their gorilla masks and guerrilla-style stunts. (“Guerrilla Girls’ definition of a hypocrite?” read one poster. “An art collector who buys white male art at benefits for liberal causes, but never buys art by women or artists of color.”)

From Picasso’s Guernica — observed as a cry against the atrocities of the Spanish War — to the graffiti of the Arab Spring, social movements and injustice have long inspired art of all forms. The #MeToo Moment is no exception.

We asked readers to submit work on this theme. In her piece above, the Michigan-based illustrator, Libby VanderPloeg, showcases the concept of momentum: "When people join forces,” she explained, “they can exert greater leverage over a situation.”

Below, eight more of the pieces you sent our way, with comments from the artists.

“This is a watercolor piece, portraying three individuals of different ethnic groups and genders, that demonstrates how the victims of sexual assault and harassment vary.

“The individuals are removing tape from their mouths to signify victims finding the courage to come forward.

“Having more than one person in the piece shows the unity within the movement and how rape culture affects more than just a few people.”

—Graciella Delgado is a 17-year-old artist in Houston, Tex.

"I was around 15 and a man approached me on the street, said he liked my shoes. I thanked him.

“He then began to list every other part of me he liked (legs, mouth, hair, everything), following me down the street as I tried to leave the conversation. First by politely excusing myself, then by breaking into a run.

“That was the first time I felt myself seen as nothing but a collection of body parts. It wasn’t the last.”

— Alicia Tatone is a graphic designer in Brooklyn, N.Y.

“The cartoon is pretty self-explanatory, but for me it’s just about how women who share stories often find out that we all often experience the same pain, no matter how different our backgrounds.”

—Hilary Campbell is a cartoonist in Brooklyn, N.Y.

“I have my own lifetime of #MeToo experiences, and one response I have to the courage of those contributing to this uprising is the sense of pure joy and freedom when I imagine that culture is finally in ruins.

“There are serious aspects to this movement, but I want to show the inevitability and inherent positivity of its impact as something to be celebrated.”

—Kathleen Morris is a textile and collage artist in Australia.

“I drew these sketches in a shelter for women and children escaping domestic violence. In order to preserve the privacy of women, I portrayed only their ears.

“The shape of our ears is unique, like our fingerprints. However near the partners are, they still can’t actually identify that shape.”

— Olga Prudnikova is a freelance illustrator in Berlin.

“I like that this piece shows that we as women are all a collective force, just as the ocean is a large force made up of individual water drops.”

— Caralena Peterson is a writer and artist in Washington, D.C.

“My image was inspired by the #MeToo Revolution, my personal experiences with the male gaze and a healthy amount of frustration and repulsion. What I hope to convey in this image is the sense of verbal, physical and energetic male ownership that is placed on women in society.”

— Beata Kruszynski is a freelance illustrator and art teacher in Ontario, Canada.

"By hiding the dolls’ faces, I hoped to highlight how the objectification of girls’ bodies takes away their identities.”

— Dora Guo is a high school student in Lincolnshire, Ill.