emsemsems's review
1.0
A zero-effort attempt at a coffee-table art book that could have been great otherwise. Follow a classical art meme account or two on Instagram and save your money instead. Felt so cheated by this; ironic isn't it?
abauer's review
3.0
A short and funny coffee table book that captions works of classical fine art, Men to Avoid in Art and Life imagines the mansplaining comments that inspired the women's long-suffering looks in the paintings. Not all of the jokes landed for me, but there were definitely some gems in there worth a read and a laugh.
triz193's review
4.0
First of all, this is real and necessary and beautiful so f*ing hilarious :). And I have to own it
This book found a very special way to resonate with me... As someone who loves art, as a woman, as a feminist who couldn't possibly get why this book was funny ;D.
The world of gender equality has ways to go still, but everything helps. This book helps.
I did however find a small issue, one that exists in the art world for quite sometime. 99% of the artists who painted the works displayed here were men. I attended a art exhibt in São Paulo last year where they worked to portray works of female paintors through time, and one of the things they commented on was the lack of difficulty other museums made to lend the pieces, like they mattered less somehow... There's that case of a revered european paintor, whose works lost recognition when, centuries later it was revealed that she was actually female. I can't possibly imagine that the painting itself changed, that it stopped being objectively good... I digress... What I mean is, this could have been a platform where works women were also showed. And it would have been awesome.
However, we cannot as women say that there is a wrong way to feminism, that can only make suffer the movement. That is to say, yes, this work would have been better if it had been also painted by women, when talking about women, but this is also a beautiful endeavor that is talking about our issues already, and it deserves it's credit for that.
I really loved the iniciatiative and I hope more people are as inspired as I am,
This book found a very special way to resonate with me... As someone who loves art, as a woman, as a feminist who couldn't possibly get why this book was funny ;D.
The world of gender equality has ways to go still, but everything helps. This book helps.
I did however find a small issue, one that exists in the art world for quite sometime. 99% of the artists who painted the works displayed here were men. I attended a art exhibt in São Paulo last year where they worked to portray works of female paintors through time, and one of the things they commented on was the lack of difficulty other museums made to lend the pieces, like they mattered less somehow... There's that case of a revered european paintor, whose works lost recognition when, centuries later it was revealed that she was actually female. I can't possibly imagine that the painting itself changed, that it stopped being objectively good... I digress... What I mean is, this could have been a platform where works women were also showed. And it would have been awesome.
However, we cannot as women say that there is a wrong way to feminism, that can only make suffer the movement. That is to say, yes, this work would have been better if it had been also painted by women, when talking about women, but this is also a beautiful endeavor that is talking about our issues already, and it deserves it's credit for that.
I really loved the iniciatiative and I hope more people are as inspired as I am,
mira123's review
5.0
Ich weiß nicht, wie es euch geht, aber ich bin eine große Kunstliebhaberin. Das hat sich bei mir durch mein Studium entwickelt (auch wenn ich auch schon davor mit meinem Vater in verschiedene Ausstellungen gegangen bin), denn ich hatte eine richtig tolle Professorin im Fach Kulturgeschichte, die mit so viel Begeisterung von verschiedenen Gemälden gesprochen hat, dass ich seitdem einen ganz anderen Blick auf Kunst habe. Auch dieses Büchlein habe ich von einer Kunstausstellung in den Albertina in Wien. Das lag da im Souvenirshop rum und mein allerliebster Kunstbuddy (also mein Vater) hat es mir dann sofort gekauft.
In diesem Buch werden Gemälde, wie man sie in verschiedenen Museen finden könnte, mithilfe von Sprechblasen zu Comics umfunktioniert. So werden verschiedene Situationen aufs Korn genommen, wie sie FINTAs* (also Frauen, Inter Personen, Nichtbinäre Menschen, Trans Menschen und Agender Personen) in ihrem Alltag immer wieder begegnen. Am liebsten sind mir ja die Bilder, in denen sich die Autorin über Mansplaining lustig macht. Das passiert mir so oft, dass Männer denken, dass ich eine Erklärung von ihnen brauche oder mir eine wünsche und das am besten zu Themen wie Literatur, wo ich ganz sicher mehr weiß als die lieben Herren der Schöpfung, die mir ungefragt erklären, was denn eigentlich eine Dystopie ist. Und scheinbar nicht nur mir, denn hier wird dann zum Beispiel der Pferdebesitzerin erklärt, wie man reitet oder einer anderen jungen Frau, wie der Witz funktioniert hat, den sie gerade gemacht hat.
Was ich daran so göttlich fand? Die Gesichtsausdrücke der Figuren, die man ja genau so auch in den Originalbildern findet. Die hier gemalten Frauen sehen unglaublich genervt aus und ich konnte mich leider besser mit ihnen identifizieren, als ich es mir erwartet hätte. Und das hat bei mir natürlich die Frage aufgeworfen, warum Frauen scheinbar oft als nicht glücklich gemalt werden. Da werde ich wohl definitiv noch weitere Recherchen dazu anstellen.
Das ganze ist auf Papier gedruckt, das sich für mich hochwertig anfühlt, sieht gut an und liegt gut in der Hand. Ewig werdet ihr daran nicht lesen, aber es ist trotzdem eine gute und interessante Lektüre.
Mein Fazit? Ein schönes Büchlein darüber, was in den verschiedensten Bildern wohl gerade passieren könnte.