The Law, 2000
Sarah Lucas
Photo: Courtesy of the artist
Collection
C-print from polaroid
122 x 91 cm
The Law is a midsize color print, originally taken as a polaroid. Occupying the entirety of the frame is—presumably—the artist herself, covering her face and upper torso with an issue of The Sun. Replacing her body parts are now catchy tabloid headlines and flashy images. Just below, the viewer is immediately drawn to the central focal point of the photography: Lucas’s legs are spread as she sits on an object resembling a cast-concrete television engraved with letters that read, “THE LAW.” The two mediums reference Lucas’s continuous exploration of the sexualized and misogynous representations of the female body in tabloid press, and direct attention to the unconscious processes of male sexism in popular culture.
The haptic quality, the cropped-out edges and the over-exposure give the photograph a raw feel, aesthetically close to a snapshot. Nevertheless, The Law relates to Lucas’s iconic photographic self-portraits taken between 1990 and 1999, where she confronts self-representation and the identity of the artist. Often incorporating older works in the form of collages, the artist returns, a year later, to her earlier series and revitalizes the uniqueness and autonomy of her pieces. Referencing them becomes an act of self-empowerment. Even though Lucas never intentionally construes her self-portraits as metaphors, she plays in lighthearted manner into their possible sexual undercurrents and therefore chooses provocative, stage-managed poses. In a conversation with Beatrix Ruf, Lucas says, “I like to play around with gender stereotypes. And I like androgyny. All these meanings are constructs, and they’re quite fragile really. They could be otherwise. Woman could be aggressors. Or, sit with their legs astride taking up two seats on the bus. Men could wear the skirts. Bisexuality could be the normal way for both sexes…”[1] She hints at ambiguities present in language, objects, and discourses by highlighting her masculine traits, and creates androgynous characters that subvert pre-conceived stereotypes, restrictive gender roles, and patriarchal hierarchy. (TBA21)
[1] Beatrix Ruf in conversation with Sarah Lucas, in: Sarah Lucas. Exhibitions and Catalogue Raisonné 1989–2005, eds. Yilmaz Dziewior and Beatrix Ruf, Kunsthalle Zürich (Stuttgart: Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2005), 30.
*1962 in London, United Kingdom | Living and working in London, United Kingdom
122 x 91 cm
The Law is a midsize color print, originally taken as a polaroid. Occupying the entirety of the frame is—presumably—the artist herself, covering her face and upper torso with an issue of The Sun. Replacing her body parts are now catchy tabloid headlines and flashy images. Just below, the viewer is immediately drawn to the central focal point of the photography: Lucas’s legs are spread as she sits on an object resembling a cast-concrete television engraved with letters that read, “THE LAW.” The two mediums reference Lucas’s continuous exploration of the sexualized and misogynous representations of the female body in tabloid press, and direct attention to the unconscious processes of male sexism in popular culture.
The haptic quality, the cropped-out edges and the over-exposure give the photograph a raw feel, aesthetically close to a snapshot. Nevertheless, The Law relates to Lucas’s iconic photographic self-portraits taken between 1990 and 1999, where she confronts self-representation and the identity of the artist. Often incorporating older works in the form of collages, the artist returns, a year later, to her earlier series and revitalizes the uniqueness and autonomy of her pieces. Referencing them becomes an act of self-empowerment. Even though Lucas never intentionally construes her self-portraits as metaphors, she plays in lighthearted manner into their possible sexual undercurrents and therefore chooses provocative, stage-managed poses. In a conversation with Beatrix Ruf, Lucas says, “I like to play around with gender stereotypes. And I like androgyny. All these meanings are constructs, and they’re quite fragile really. They could be otherwise. Woman could be aggressors. Or, sit with their legs astride taking up two seats on the bus. Men could wear the skirts. Bisexuality could be the normal way for both sexes…”[1] She hints at ambiguities present in language, objects, and discourses by highlighting her masculine traits, and creates androgynous characters that subvert pre-conceived stereotypes, restrictive gender roles, and patriarchal hierarchy. (TBA21)
[1] Beatrix Ruf in conversation with Sarah Lucas, in: Sarah Lucas. Exhibitions and Catalogue Raisonné 1989–2005, eds. Yilmaz Dziewior and Beatrix Ruf, Kunsthalle Zürich (Stuttgart: Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2005), 30.
*1962 in London, United Kingdom | Living and working in London, United Kingdom
Sarah Lucas is part of the generation of Young British Artists who emerged during the 1990s. Her works frequently employ visual puns and bawdy humour by incorporating photography, collage and found objects. Lucas's first solo commercial exhibition with Sadie Coles, Bunny Gets Snookered in 1997, was a great success and paved the way for her works Sod you Gits (1991), Two Fried Eggs and a Kebab (1992) and Pauline Bunny (1997) to be included in the Sensation exhibition at the Royal Academy later in 1997. The Journalist Lynn Barber described Luca´s work as, "not scary, exactly, because it was too witty for that - but fuelled by anger; anger against pornography and men's casual denigration of women though Lucas responded to that suggestion by saying she was more "annoyed than angry."
The biography is from tate and the art story.
The biography is from tate and the art story.