Media/Visual Literacy Art Education: Sexism in Hip-Hop Music Videos

{all done!}

{The evolution- almost there}

{to look through the eyes of a teenager}

{The Background}

{The blank canvas}

We were asked to do an artist statement for the piece- I for some weird reason, maybe just because it was fun, I wrote it in 3rd person.

Artist Statement
Amber Ortlieb is a practicing artist who in but a few short weeks will be a teacher of art. For the past 5 years, her focus has been the artistry and design of interior spaces and the elements within. Through this focus, she has become an observer and scientist of humanity- reading the needs, wants and desires into their interior spaces.

In seeking a scholarly article, she set her sights on the visual media and culture that influences the students she will instruct. Sheng Kuan Chung, in Art Education May 2007, wrote an article titled “Media/Visual Literacy Art Education: Sexism in Hip-Hop Music Videos” that excited and inspired Amber for her alternative representational piece. The article explores the influence of the visual culture on today’s female teen identity, and specifically in the musical genre of hip-hop. It is here that females are sexualized, stereotyped, and suppressed. In exploring gender issues, Amber was struck by the impact and reality of this article and has therefore created this striking art piece to expose, heighten awareness and illustrate the female’s struggle of healthy identity.

The alternative representation is a combination of acrylic paint, collage, mixed media, oil pastel, gel transfer, chip board, stamping, pen, and pencil on canvas. Through the varied mediums, she was able to capture the depth and complicated nature of a female teen’s path through their discovery of an identity in society. The canvas speaks to the visual culture specifically of hip hop’s advertising, media, and female sexism's gender roles in the various background images. The partial face and eye is seeing all of the visual culture and looking out as if to determine if this is the identity in which she wishes to adopt. The image hears words of identity, cultural diversity and acceptance, gender equality and is told to develop critical knowledge but is bombarded with the visual culture that does not support all that is heard. It is confusing, changing and challenging.

Initially, the audience for this piece is Amber’s University teachers’ course peers; however after completing the work, she intends to use it within her classroom to spark dialogue with her students of democratic equal society. Similar to the author of the article, Amber believes in the “importance of art education for fostering critical media/visual literacy in young viewers to help them recognize what hip-hop’s sexism (and all visual culture) presents to a democratic society that strives for gender equality.”