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  • A Golden Artist: Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt’s Life and Art During the Stonewall Era

    Document thumbnail: A Golden Artist: Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt’s Life and Art During the Stonewall Era
    Type:
    Document
    Description/Abstract:
    This paper explores queer artist Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt (b. 1948) and his piece titled Allegory of the Stonewall Riot (Statue of Liberty Fighting for Drag Queen, Husband, and Home) (1969). I take a biographical approach to the paper, dissecting Lanigan-Schmidt’s childhood and young adult life living as a queer street kid in the 1960s. I follow him to New York City, where he continued creating his kitsch style art and started getting recognized for it. Outside of his artistic endeavors, Lanigan-Schmidt would catch himself hanging out at The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar on Christopher Street. In the early hours of June 28, 1969, The Stonewall Inn was unexpectedly raided by the police. At a time when being queer was criminalized, the patrons of Stonewall had had enough and fought back against the police, sparking a riot that turned into a weeks-long protest. Lanigan-Schmidt was in attendance that night and joined the fight for gay liberation. It was this night that inspired his creation, Allegory of the Stonewall Riot (Statue of Liberty Fighting for Drag Queen, Husband, and Home). By analyzing the contextual importance of The Stonewall Inn and the riots that ensued, I show how Allegory of the Stonewall Riot reflects queer life in the 1960s. In the art historical canon, queer art is largely underrepresented. However, in this paper I show how Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt and Allegory of the Stonewall Riot deserve a place in the art historical canon
    Creator/Author:
    Turner, Lauren
    Submitter:
    Lauren Turner
    Date Uploaded:
    04/27/2026
    Date Modified:
    04/28/2026
    Date Created:
    2026-04-27
    License:
    CC0 1.0 Universal

  • Ethical Implications in Marina Abramović’s "Rhythm 0"

    Student Work thumbnail: Ethical Implications in Marina Abramović’s "Rhythm 0"
    Type:
    Student Work
    Description/Abstract:
    “In my opinion, wherever there is a public, there is a sacred place. When there is no public, there is no performance because there is no dialogue,” claimed Marina Abramović (b. 1946) in conversation with Italian art critic and contemporary art historian Achille Bonito Oliva. For Abramović, the presence of an audience is constitutive to performance. Performance art has frequently been defined by its provocative impulse, functioning as a responsive and unstable form that artists have turned to when engaging with political, cultural, or social pressures, and when seeking to unsettle the conventions of more established artistic disciplines. These sentiments are conveyed by her first performance works, The Rhythm Series (1973-1974). Over the course of two years, she completed five separate performances that explored the physical limits of the body and the relationship between performer and audience. Abramović performed Rhythm 0 (1974), the fifth and final work, at the gallery Studio Morra in Naples, Italy, from 8 pm to 2 am. She placed seventy-two objects on a table that could cause the human body extreme pleasure or pain, including but not limited to objects like a comb, lipstick, paint, a feather, a bone of lamb, cake, and a gun. Instructions posted on the wall declared: “I am the object. During this period I take full responsibility.” This experiment used the art space to expose what audiences are capable of when social inhibition is suspended and moral responsibility is left unguided. This paper asks, in her performance Rhythm 0, how does Abramović's deliberate surrender of bodily agency transforms the audience from passive observers into ethically implicated subjects, forcing an intersubjective encounter with the artist that exposes unconventional, if not revolutionary, social conditions governing the art space?
    Creator/Author:
    Penix, Sadie
    Submitter:
    Sadie Penix
    Date Uploaded:
    04/26/2026
    Date Modified:
    04/30/2026
    Date Created:
    2026-04
    License:
    CC0 1.0 Universal

  • Ethical Implications in Marina Abramović’s "Rhythm 0"

    Document thumbnail: Ethical Implications in Marina Abramović’s "Rhythm 0"
    Type:
    Document
    Description/Abstract:
    “In my opinion, wherever there is a public, there is a sacred place. When there is no public, there is no performance because there is no dialogue,” claimed Marina Abramović (b. 1946) in conversation with Italian art critic and contemporary art historian Achille Bonito Oliva. For Abramović, the presence of an audience is constitutive to performance. Performance art has frequently been defined by its provocative impulse, functioning as a responsive and unstable form that artists have turned to when engaging with political, cultural, or social pressures, and when seeking to unsettle the conventions of more established artistic disciplines. These sentiments are conveyed by her first performance works, The Rhythm Series (1973-1974). Over the course of two years, she completed five separate performances that explored the physical limits of the body and the relationship between performer and audience. Abramović performed Rhythm 0 (1974), the fifth and final work, at the gallery Studio Morra in Naples, Italy, from 8 pm to 2 am. She placed seventy-two objects on a table that could cause the human body extreme pleasure or pain, including but not limited to objects like a comb, lipstick, paint, a feather, a bone of lamb, cake, and a gun. Instructions posted on the wall declared: “I am the object. During this period I take full responsibility.” This experiment used the art space to expose what audiences are capable of when social inhibition is suspended and moral responsibility is left unguided. This paper asks, in her performance Rhythm 0, how does Abramović's deliberate surrender of bodily agency transforms the audience from passive observers into ethically implicated subjects, forcing an intersubjective encounter with the artist that exposes unconventional, if not revolutionary, social conditions governing the art space?
    Creator/Author:
    Penix, Sadie
    Submitter:
    Sadie Penix
    Date Uploaded:
    04/26/2026
    Date Modified:
    04/27/2026
    Date Created:
    2026-04
    License:
    CC0 1.0 Universal

  • The Language of the Self: Rejecting the Surrealist focus on Psychoanalysis in Leonora Carrington’s Self-Portrait (Inn of the Dawn Horse)

    Article thumbnail: The Language of the Self: Rejecting the Surrealist focus on Psychoanalysis in Leonora Carrington’s Self-Portrait (Inn of the Dawn Horse)
    Type:
    Article
    Description/Abstract:
    This project will explore the artist Leonora Carrington’s Self-portrait (Inn of the Dawn Horse, ca. 1937-38) and its relationship to and rejection of the male-centric, sexist ideology of psychoanalysis that governed the Surrealist movement. As outlined in Andre Breton's First Manifesto of Surrealism (1924), Freudian psychoanalysis had a great influence on Breton, the movement's founder (1896-1966). He believed in Freud's tenets and theories regarding dreams and the unconscious as a liberating and radical force that could tear down society’s systems of oppression. Yet there is a willful ignorance in Breton’s philosophy on the deep-rooted misogyny of Freud’s psychology and how the institution of psychoanalysis ignores the realities of female development and existence within inherently sexist societal structures of that period. However, Leonora Carrington rejected psychoanalytic theory as it pertained to her art. She refused to be categorized within sexist ideologies and asserted herself as a creative artist with her own interpretations of her work, positing her own ideologies in the process. She demonstrated her identity through her work and found liberation by developing her own feminist consciousness. Through researching Carrington's work, I want to expand on her ability to challenge the sexist paradigms of Surrealism and to reaffirm how her rejection demonstrates that female nonconformity is not only revolutionary but also necessary for female artistic freedom today. Other scholars have delved into this driving aspect of Carrington’s work but I will be utilizing Helene Cixous’ concept of “ecritutre feminine” in order to demonstrate how Carrington developed a “pictorial language” of her own within her work Self-Portrait (Inn of the Dawn Horse). I will use Cixous’ seminal work, "The Laugh of the Medusa," to expand on this idea and how Carrington developed that language, constituted of her own personal symbols, which is on full display in her self-portrait.
    Creator/Author:
    Morriss, Ella
    Submitter:
    Ella Morriss
    Date Uploaded:
    04/26/2026
    Date Modified:
    04/26/2026
    Date Created:
    2026-04-27
    License:
    CC0 1.0 Universal

  • Fashioning the Cloisters: A Reflection on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Exhibition Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination

    Student Work thumbnail: Fashioning the Cloisters: A Reflection on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Exhibition Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination
    Type:
    Student Work
    Description/Abstract:
    The exhibition "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination," staged by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Fashion Institute, showcased a fusion of Catholic iconography with contemporary fashion. The exhibition served as an immersive experience within the Met Cloisters, blending architecture, artworks, and garments to elevate clothing to the status of art. Attire was transformed into an earnest expression of spirituality and cultural identity through thematic organization. "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination" exemplifies the potential of fashion as a medium for artistic exploration and cultural discourse, challenging conventional perceptions and redefining boundaries between art and apparel.
    Creator/Author:
    Fridlund, Katherine
    Submitter:
    Katherine Fridlund
    Date Uploaded:
    04/19/2024
    Date Modified:
    04/23/2024
    Date Created:
    2024-04-18
    License:
    All rights reserved

  • Dusty Millers: Rural Representation in 19th Century Movements

    Document thumbnail: Dusty Millers: Rural Representation in 19th Century Movements
    Type:
    Document
    Description/Abstract:
    This project analyzes a print from the UC Art Collection called “Dusty Millers” and the amateur artist that created it. Diving into the artist’s biography and relations, this project first aims to understand how the amateur artist went about studying printmaking and how he became an important advocate for the medium in London. Secondly, the project discusses artistic influences from the 19th century that inspired his style and subject matter of his prints that include depictions of rural landscapes and daily labors.
    Creator/Author:
    Roades, Gracie
    Submitter:
    Gracie Roades
    Date Uploaded:
    04/08/2022
    Date Modified:
    04/19/2022
    Date Created:
    2022-04-07
    License:
    All rights reserved

  • DRAFT EXHIBITION

    Student Work thumbnail: DRAFT EXHIBITION
    Type:
    Student Work
    Description/Abstract:
    Draft of capstone class final project. Includes file of images and wall labels for DRAFT of the exhibition. Includes prints from the UC art collection from the 16th century, 17th century, 18th century, 19th century, and 20th century. The representation of architecture within art is a main theme for artists of all time periods. Within the UC Art Collection, prints display different stylistic approaches from abstract to realistic when portraying architecture. This exhibit will display five prints that compare and contrast the idea of stylistic approach. By viewing these artworks, there is the question as to why artists chose to portray the two types differently. Does the style dictate the importance or function of the architecture? Through exploration, one could say that there is a correlation between the type of architecture and its stylistic rendering. When viewing the examples of the collection, architecture that is considered monumental, such as cathedrals or government buildings, seem to be portrayed with realistic detailing and perspective, leaving no room for artistic expression in the portrayal. On the other hand, common architecture is portrayed with more abstraction but allows more freedom of expression from the artist to interpret the structure. Is one better than the other or do these two separate approaches give their subjects individualized attention to their charms?
    Creator/Author:
    Roades, Gracie
    Submitter:
    Gracie Roades
    Date Uploaded:
    03/31/2022
    Date Modified:
    04/07/2022
    Date Created:
    2022-03-31
    License:
    All rights reserved

  • Hokusai’s Great Wave and its Impact on the Culture of Western Art

    Student Work thumbnail: Hokusai’s Great Wave and its Impact on the Culture of Western Art
    Type:
    Student Work
    Description/Abstract:
    A visual analysis of the Kanagawa-oki Nami, or the Great Wave off Kanagawa by the Japanese ukiyo-e printmaker Katsushika Hokusai and its impact of Western Art culture following the Meiji Restoration of 1867
    Creator/Author:
    Gray, Joe
    Submitter:
    Joe Gray
    Date Uploaded:
    03/31/2022
    Date Modified:
    04/24/2022
    Date Created:
    3/31/2022
    License:
    All rights reserved

  • Clarity and Ambiguity in Félix Bracquemond’s View of Reality: Le Haut d’un battant de porte (The Top of a Door)

    Student Work thumbnail: Clarity and Ambiguity in Félix Bracquemond’s View of Reality: Le Haut d’un battant de porte (The Top of a Door)
    Type:
    Student Work
    Description/Abstract:
    This essay investigates the complex subject matter and the significance of Félix Bracquemond’s etching Le Haut d’un battant de porte (The Top of a Door) through a biographical approach, visual analysis, and examination of the artist’s creative process and intentions. The investigation demonstrates that this etching is not only unusual for its clarity, but also for its ambiguity. The seemingly contradictory yet complementary characteristics – clarity and ambiguity – coexist in this work. It is the coexistence and interaction of clarity and ambiguity that makes this work more significant and intriguing.
    Creator/Author:
    Lai, Sufang
    Submitter:
    Sufang Lai
    Date Uploaded:
    03/31/2022
    Date Modified:
    04/21/2022
    Date Created:
    2022-04-20
    License:
    All rights reserved

  • Allegorical Women Figures in Renaissance Prints

    Student Work thumbnail: Allegorical Women Figures in Renaissance Prints
    Type:
    Student Work
    Description/Abstract:
    Why do the majority of allegorical figures in art take on a female form? What does this tell us about the way women were viewed in their societies? This essay examines the relationship of the female form in allegorical prints and European Renaissance society in the 15th century.
    Creator/Author:
    King, Emilie
    Submitter:
    Emilie King
    Date Uploaded:
    03/31/2022
    Date Modified:
    04/26/2022
    Date Created:
    April 21, 2022
    License:
    All rights reserved