Task 2- The Gaze

'according to usage and conventions which are at last being questioned but have by no means been overcome - men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at’ (Berger 1972, 45, 47)

Discuss this quote with reference to one work of art and one work from the contemprary media.

When you first look at a piece of art or a subject of any kind, you see more than just the subject itself- you see your relationship to it. As a spectator, you can stand back from the image and judge the objects depicted there. You can purchase that painting and own the image of the object.

In Berger’s book ‘Ways of Seeing’, written in 1972, he writes that ‘men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at’ (1972, p.45, 47) He writes that women are hold passive roles in art and culture and that they have been put their to be looked upon by men.

During the Italian Renaissance, the female nude became the main subject of art. She was always depicted within a mythological framework to pull her away from reality and this painting by Velazquez shows this standard theme of the female nude.

The woman lying on the bed is Venus and the boy holding the mirror is her son, Cupid.

Venus is depicted here in quite a sensual pose- the viewer able to look at her body without any of the subjects in the painting looking back. Although the mirror is positioned so that Venus may see her audience, Velazquez has painted her face so indistinct that you cannot be sure of where she is looking. She could be admiring her own face and so the viewer may hold contempt over Venus’ vanity and see her as a creature of his possession- simultaneously admiring and pejorative, but always as something he owns.

John Berger comments on this subject that ‘the decontextualized woman, engaged in no activity other than narcissistic self-contemplation, evokes our interest in narrative speculation.’

The H&M swimwear model is mirroring the pose of the ‘inactive’ female in this advert. Her gaze is directed at the viewer but it is inviting you to look at her. Her body is positioned to show her body shape to its advantage and her gaze shows that she knows an audience is watching her and she is letting them. She is the passive figure of European art in our society today.

Velazquez- Rokeby Venus, 1650






H&M swimwear campaign 2011