Hannah Wilke (born Arlene Hannah Butter, March 7, 1940—January 28, 1993) was an American painter, sculptor, and photographer.
Hannah Wilke was born in 1940 in New York City into a Jewish family.
Wilke first gained renown with her "vulval" terra-cotta sculptures in the 1960s. Her sculptures are often mentioned as some of the first explicit vaginal imagery arising from the women's liberation movement.
In 1974, Wilke began work on her photographic b...
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Hannah Wilke (born Arlene Hannah Butter, March 7, 1940—January 28, 1993) was an American painter, sculptor, and photographer.
Hannah Wilke was born in 1940 in New York City into a Jewish family.
Wilke first gained renown with her "vulval" terra-cotta sculptures in the 1960s. Her sculptures are often mentioned as some of the first explicit vaginal imagery arising from the women's liberation movement.
In 1974, Wilke began work on her photographic body art piece S.O.S - Starification Object Series in which she merged her minimalist sculpture and her own body by creating tiny vulval sculptures out of chewing gum and sticking them to herself. She then photographed herself in various pin-up poses, providing a juxtaposition of glamour and something resembling tribal scarification. These poses exaggerate and satirize American cultural values of feminine beauty and fashion. She also performed this piece publicly, having audience members chew the gum for her before she sculpted them and placed...
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