Biography from AskART:
| Having earned an M.F.A. from Yale University, Lisa Yuskavage has had representation by respected galleries in New York. It is said that she has responded to this success by being "mildly naughty" and "using her exceptional facility to produce knowingly dreadful paintings." Her figures are grotesque young sexpots with bloated stomaches, described as "just: disturbing, repulsive, enticing, beautiful. And sexy?" Some think so.
Initially viewers may draw their attention to two noticeable things, noses and breasts, both exaggerated. The "obscenely plump-ness and sometimes purple nipples that strike the unsuspecting viewer as strange," but also the deformity of both. "The breasts are disturbingly lopsided: as one sticks up, protruding at an odd angle from the body, another droops down. . . ." Along with the noses, which are practically snouts.
The unequal proportions of Yuskavage's bodies are skewed, yet achieve balance. "Their organs may be distorted, but the relations between them -- especially between nose and breast -- enjoy a peculiar harmony."
Yuskavage's work is ambiguous, somewhere between fantasy and terrifying. Some have labeled her a feminist. Others perhaps more prudent, resist such an interpretation. As Lane Relyea writes, "To attribute a critical position to Yuskavage's canvases seems a cowardly response, like reining in outlaws by deputizing them." In the end, the only plausible position seems to be the one Yuskavage herself has alluded to: she creates her characters in order to kill her enemies. She is dealing with the wiles by which women negotiate for power.
Source:
www.artandculture.com
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Lisa Yuskavage is also mentioned in these AskART essays:
Painters of Nudes
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