Work Title: Hot-En-Tot
Artist: Renee Cox
Media: Gelatin silver print
Year: 1994
Image Link: Hot-En-Tot
Exhibition History: http://www.artfacts.net/en/artist/renee-cox-15383/profile.html#top
Official Website: http://reneecox.org/
Artist Statement:
" My main concern is the deconstruction of stereotypes and the empowerment of women. I believe that images of women in the media are distorted and women are imprisoned by those unrealistic representations of the female body. This distortion crosses all ethnic lines and devalues all women. I am interested in taking the stereotypical representations of women and turning them upside down, for their empowerment."
Artist: Renee Cox
Media: Gelatin silver print
Year: 1994
Image Link: Hot-En-Tot
Exhibition History: http://www.artfacts.net/en/artist/renee-cox-15383/profile.html#top
Official Website: http://reneecox.org/
Artist Statement:
" My main concern is the deconstruction of stereotypes and the empowerment of women. I believe that images of women in the media are distorted and women are imprisoned by those unrealistic representations of the female body. This distortion crosses all ethnic lines and devalues all women. I am interested in taking the stereotypical representations of women and turning them upside down, for their empowerment."
Curator Comments:
The title Hot-En-Tot is derived from a derogatory word for the Khoi people of Africa. Saartje Baartman, a Koisan women, was “exhibited as a side show attraction in London and Paris for give years” in the early 19th century (McDaniel and Robertson 103). Baartman was advertised under the name of Hottentot Venus. Crowds paid to see her naked body, which had “a large buttocks and elongated genitalia” (McDaniel and Robertson 103). After she died her body was dissected; her skeleton, genitals and brain were preserved and put on display in the Musee de l’Homme. Over 200 years later her remains were returned to her native land for burial.
Baartman is an “icon of colonial exploitation of women of color” (McDaniel and Robertson 103). This, is the reason behind Renee Cox’s art piece. Cox attached oversized fake breasts and buttocks made out of gelatin silver print to her nude body. By doing this, she emphasizes the part of the body of African females that are “fetishsized” in visual representations of black women (McDaniel and Robertson 103). The silver makes the sculpture look like the material used in an award someone might receive—showing how important these anatomy parts are to some people. With her hair perfectly done, her make up and manicured nails flawless, Cox looks back at the audience, “affirming her pride in possessing a black female body” (McDaniel and Robertson 102).
Cox uses her own body to show that the stereotypes of black women are not true—she shows that these massive breasts and large buttocks she placed on her body, which represent the stereotypes people have made, do not fit. Although a lot of Cox’s work address historical stereotypes of the “images on blacks in western art”, in my opinion, Hot-En-Tot can be related to modern culture. Even today there still exist stereotypes of black women, especially as displayed through the media. Images of voluptuous black females fill our television screens in music videos and magazines, and I believe that Cox’s sculpture is her way of stating that not all black females should be objectified to one type of body—though she might not be as curvaceous as her sculpture, she is still proud of her heritage.
The title Hot-En-Tot is derived from a derogatory word for the Khoi people of Africa. Saartje Baartman, a Koisan women, was “exhibited as a side show attraction in London and Paris for give years” in the early 19th century (McDaniel and Robertson 103). Baartman was advertised under the name of Hottentot Venus. Crowds paid to see her naked body, which had “a large buttocks and elongated genitalia” (McDaniel and Robertson 103). After she died her body was dissected; her skeleton, genitals and brain were preserved and put on display in the Musee de l’Homme. Over 200 years later her remains were returned to her native land for burial.
Baartman is an “icon of colonial exploitation of women of color” (McDaniel and Robertson 103). This, is the reason behind Renee Cox’s art piece. Cox attached oversized fake breasts and buttocks made out of gelatin silver print to her nude body. By doing this, she emphasizes the part of the body of African females that are “fetishsized” in visual representations of black women (McDaniel and Robertson 103). The silver makes the sculpture look like the material used in an award someone might receive—showing how important these anatomy parts are to some people. With her hair perfectly done, her make up and manicured nails flawless, Cox looks back at the audience, “affirming her pride in possessing a black female body” (McDaniel and Robertson 102).
Cox uses her own body to show that the stereotypes of black women are not true—she shows that these massive breasts and large buttocks she placed on her body, which represent the stereotypes people have made, do not fit. Although a lot of Cox’s work address historical stereotypes of the “images on blacks in western art”, in my opinion, Hot-En-Tot can be related to modern culture. Even today there still exist stereotypes of black women, especially as displayed through the media. Images of voluptuous black females fill our television screens in music videos and magazines, and I believe that Cox’s sculpture is her way of stating that not all black females should be objectified to one type of body—though she might not be as curvaceous as her sculpture, she is still proud of her heritage.
Bibliography:
Cox, Renee. Hot-En-Tot. 1994. Photograph. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. <http://burnaway.org/wp-content/myimages//2009
/09/315.1891-384x500.jpg>.
McDaniel, Craig, and Jean Robertson. Themes of Contemporary Art. Second ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.
Sackler, Elizabeth A. "Renee Cox." Brooklyn Museum. Web. 25 Apr. 2010. <http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa
/feminist_art_base/gallery/renee_cox.php>.
Cox, Renee. Hot-En-Tot. 1994. Photograph. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. <http://burnaway.org/wp-content/myimages//2009
/09/315.1891-384x500.jpg>.
McDaniel, Craig, and Jean Robertson. Themes of Contemporary Art. Second ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.
Sackler, Elizabeth A. "Renee Cox." Brooklyn Museum. Web. 25 Apr. 2010. <http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa
/feminist_art_base/gallery/renee_cox.php>.
