If you create or own art concerning menstruation or menopause
and are interested in showing it on thesepages (it's free!), contact MUM
Marie Claire magazine (Italian edition) featured several
of the above artists in an article about this
museum and menstruation in 2003. The newspaper Corriere della Sera (Io Donna
magazine) (Milan, Italy) and the magazine Dishy (Turkey) showed some of
the artists in 2005 in articles about this museum.
 
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The Art of Menstruation at the Museum of Menstruation and Women's Health
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"Kotex says Sorry is intended to promote a positive
although surreal representation of menstruation. The images were
painted originally and then photographed and printed out in large scale
for exhibition purposes. The style of the female body parodies the form
taken by American Pin-up artist Gil Elvgren," writes the artist.
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"This is the centre-piece of my artwork on menstruation.
As I have explained, the pixie represents the menstrual period, hence taking
the place of what has not transpired to be a human foetus. The image is
intended to be celebratory of what is commonly termed as the women's 'curse.'
This image was made into a sculpted model (next page)."
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(Next artist: Elvira)
The artist, Natalie Aniela Dybisz, England, is studying BA (Hons)
English and Media at the University of Sussex, and writes,
"For a long time now I have been intrigued by menstruation as
a symbol of womanhood, but more so by the imagery surrounding menstruation.
The theme of my artwork started as 'Illusionism' I began by looking
at the Bible and questioning its authority, interpreting it as I would
any media text. I then linked menstruation to this when I came across Leviticus.
"I am more interested in the attitudes to menstruation than the
science of the blood itself. I therefore refrained from creating shock
art or goriness; I wanted to depict menstruation in an endearing manner
by using such images of strawberries and tomatoes. I turned around euphemisms
that use horror imagery, such as 'the pixies are coming,' and made a surreal
adaptation 'Congratulations, it's a pixie.'
"What I want to communicate is that menstruation is only as bad
a thing as any bodily function, and more so, a positive function. Whilst
it is unfairly seen as a taboo issue, it is beneficent for art to depict
it in divergent ways. I do not want to glorify women or glorify menstruation,
but as a novelty, I will spotlight menstruation as I have done in 'Congratulations,
it's a pixie.' This is a metaphor for discovering you are on your period,
it is not intended to allude to birth or sex at all. I have simply used
the idea of birth to hyperbolise one's period, to celebrate the fact that
the woman can rejoice that once again she has evaded the often oppressed
responsibilities of childbearing and housewifery. Simply put, I strived
to create an entertaining piece of surrealism that throws a positive light
on women and menstruation."
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NEXT artist: Elvira
See all the artists in the links in the left-hand
column.
If you create or own art concerning menstruation or menopause and
are interested in showing it on thesepages (it's free!), contact MUM
See
also Bea Nettles' art The Moonsisters
© 2005 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or distribute
work on this Web site in any manner or medium without written permission
of the author. Please report suspected violations to hfinley@mum.org
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