Embodiment

Exhibition

Exhibition Overview

Image not available
Embodiment
Stephen Goddard, curator
North Balcony, Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas

Recent discussions about the body and how it can convey our social and cultural identity make use of the concept of "embodiment." Embodiment expresses the idea that the body and mind form a unity, in contrast to the notion that has prevailed in Europe and America ever since the writings of the seventeenth-century philosopher, René Descartes, that the body and mind form a duality. Works of art from different cultures that concern the body and its adornment offer valuable opportunities for discussing the evolving ideas of embodiment. The wide-ranging selection of objects in Embodiment was specifically chosen to provoke reflection about these ideas without necessarily suggesting conclusions.

Embodiment is presented in conjunction with a History of Art seminar, "Body Art and Embodiment," offered by Gitti Salami, assistant professor of art history. The students in this class are studying body arts of different cultures, paying special attention to the concept of embodiment as a tool for interrogating culture. The exhibition draws from the Spencer's holdings of photographs, prints and Asian art; the Wilcox Classical Collection; and the KU Anthropological Research and Cultural Collection's holdings of Native American, Mesoamerican, African, and New Guinean works.

Spencer Curator of Prints and Drawings Steve Goddard says the exhibition offers a small laboratory for thinking about the concept of embodiment, much as Professor Salami's goal for the seminar is to "wrap itself around the idea that attitudes towards the body and beingness are culturally determined, and that people's sense of who they are in a body is vastly different from one culture to another."

Embodiment was organized by Steve Goddard, Gitti Salami, Kate Meyer and curatorial interns Madeleine Rislow, Brett Knapp, and Allison Miller.

Exhibition images

Works of art

kushi (comb)
1700s, Edo period (1600–1868)
bira kanzashi (dangling hairpin)
Edo period (1600–1868)
Doctor's Lady
late 1800s–early 1900s
Claude Cahun (1894–1954), untitled (self-portrait)
Claude Cahun (1894–1954)
circa 1927
John Coplans (1920–2003), Self-portrait (Seated Figure, No. 1)
John Coplans (1920–2003)
1987
Lucas Kilian (1579–1637); Johann Remmelin (1583–1632); Stephan Michelspacher (active 1613–1619), Anatomical Plate with Male and Female Figures
Lucas Kilian (1579–1637); Johann Remmelin (1583–1632); Stephan Michelspacher (active 1613–1619)
1613
Nikki S. Lee (born 1970), The Hip Hop Project (2)
Nikki S. Lee (born 1970)
2001
Robert Lostutter (born 1939), Ross's Turaco Looking Back
Robert Lostutter (born 1939)
1988
Ana Mendieta (1948–1985), Untitled: Silueta Series
Ana Mendieta (1948–1985)
1978
Chester J. Michalik (born 1935), J. B. M.
Chester J. Michalik (born 1935)
1968
Ryōko (active 1860–1870), untitled (pedestrians at stall of physiognomist and palm reader)
Ryōko (active 1860–1870)
1870s, Meiji period (1868–1912)
unrecorded Ute artist, poqx'a g'ono (doll cradleboard)
unrecorded Ute artist
early 1900s
unrecorded Chokwe artist, ngunja (carved chair)
unrecorded Chokwe artist
late 1800s–1908
unrecorded Urarina artist, shaman's necklace
unrecorded Urarina artist
late 1800s–2002
unrecorded Ayoreo artist, men's feathered neck ornament
unrecorded Ayoreo artist
late 1800s–1976
mai or mwai (mask)
late 1900s–1977

Resources

Audio

Didactic – Art Minute
Didactic – Art Minute
Episode 52 Dec-2005, Stephen Goddard and Gitti Salami I’m David Cateforis with another Art Minute from the Spencer Museum of Art. Recent discussions about the body, and how the body can convey social and cultural identity, make use of the concept of "embodiment." Embodiment expresses the idea that the body and mind form a unity. This is in contrast to the notion that the body and mind form a duality - an idea that has prevailed in Europe and America ever since the writings of the seventeenth-century philosopher, René Descartes. Embodiment is an exhibition on view at the Spencer through February 19th that groups together a wide-ranging selection of objects, culled not only from the Spencer’s diverse collection, but also from KU’s Wilcox Classical Collection and the KU Anthropological Research and Cultural Collection. From the latter collection come Native American, Mesoamerican, African, and New Guinean objects. Are attitudes towards the body and identity culturally determined? Does a person’s sense of who he or she is in a body vastly differ from one culture to another? Embodiment provokes reflection about these questions, without necessarily suggesting conclusions. With thanks to Steve Goddard and Gitti Salami for their text, from the Spencer Museum of Art, I’m David Cateforis.

Documents