The Connection Between Androgyny and Abject Art

Gender and sexuality is a concept that has gathered much interest and attention from the world of contemporary art in our current day and age. Queer identifying artists of all genres have been able to express their interpretations and voices through their art, allowing knowledge and acceptance of the LGBTIQA+ community and culture. The category of androgyny in this community however has been underwhelmingly lost to the spotlight of gay and lesbian art success. And though a great success overall for queer members of society, recognition and education through art about androgynous and non-binary individuals has been outcasted with a desperate need for attention for further understanding. The genre of abject art however took a strong influence from androgynous bodies to create works that challenged ideas about the human body that are considered taboo or inappropriate for public discussion1. And though contradicting in its grotesque nature, the artists of the abject displayed androgynous bodies with a unique type of beauty and aesthetic through formlessness and mystery. As Julia Kristeva states from her 1980 novel The Powers of Horror, it is not a lack of uncleanliness or health that causes abjection but what disturbs identity, system and order2. With this in mind, we can examine how abject art promoted knowledge and recognition of androgynous bodies through a unique and horrifying Lense.

Robert Gober’s untitled sculpture made in 1990, is a notable example of androgyny, with its hybrid form of masculine and feminine anatomy, it brings an androgynous body into the realm of the contemporary and forces its view into the eyes of those who may not have witnessed such a form. Looking at the sculpture itself it begins to question its existence as an abject object, what it is about this piece that turns viewers in revolt. By leaving this sculpture limbless and headless, Gober addresses the audience for the simplicity of the artwork's meaning in that it is just a body, like any other human body it is present in the same world as any other, and more convincingly so with its fleshy material made of beeswax. Its formlessness is disorienting and the dark human hairs embedded into its supple skin create a confusion among the audience as they try to separate its gender towards a certain label, and yet they cannot do so. This shock tactic was intended for the purpose of recognition, androgynous bodies do exist, and it is within this work that Gober brings attention to the fact. Bodies of people who present themselves as having unique gender expression, gender identity or intersex identity can hold a multitude of characteristics that combine, differ or separate from their biological sex, and therefore is unique to the individual and how they want to or can identify with. Ironically though, these bodies even in our present time are still misunderstood and dismissed by a majority of our society, stemming from teachings from certain religions, lack of education and an ignorance towards anything that differentiates from traditional belief. Resorting back to Kristeva’s statement, it is not the body itself that repulses society in the world of abjection, but society itself who does not understand its existence.

Kiki Smith was another abject artist who challenged societies ideals on the human body, and spread awareness on the presence of androgynous bodies. Smith achieves this with her etching/aquatint by the title of ‘Sueno’ (1992), which translates to the meaning of dream. The work depicts a curled, hunched body that lays in over itself. It is flayed and its muscular system is raw to the open space around it. The blackened mass with its scratched markings gives a sense that this body is charred and burned, completely vulnerable and sensitively sore to everything it touches. By flaying the subject matter, the body cannot be identified by its gender identity nor its sexuality. It has been stripped bare to the form that we all exist in, muscle and bone, addressing the irrelevance of aesthetics and gender binaries. The black mass thus becomes an androgynous being, with no labels to dissect it, it exists as a pure soul far from identity and categorization. By targeting the bodies inherent vulnerability, Smith interrupts the narratives of subjectivity, unsettling bodily ontology and creating space for new forms of knowledge, gesturing to an intersubjectivity based in a mutual recognition of vulnerability3. The title of this work also brings attention to the idea that gender stereotypes and labels need not exist, and the habitual instinct of humanity to categorize is unnecessary. If we think about the meaning of dream, it is a place imagined between reality and imagination that is burrowed in our subconscious. When analyzing the body that smith has created, it is recognized in both its sleep-like position and shut-eyes that it is existing inside a dream state. Whether it is a blissful sleep or one of terror, it belongs somewhere spiritually beyond this world, and yet here it exists on paper, glaring at its audience with authenticity and presence. This examination speaks upon the dismissal of androgynous bodies from the perspective of traditional society, and how through societies history there has been an outrage and disgust towards people who identify with this form, and yet they are existing nonetheless, it is inescapable. The artwork breaks this barrier of belief and similarly to Gober’s work, addresses that androgynous bodies are present in the same world as any other being.

There is a fluidity within androgyny that allows a formless transition between the gender binaries, often caught in between these states. Cindy Sherman, a famous photographer that uses her face as a blank canvas to portray many personas, much like a chameleon, uses photography as a medium to convey this theme of fluidity4. Shermans piece untitled #615 (2019) does just that, she disguises herself into a masculine presentation using makeup for jagged contouring and army attire to fit the appeal. Her open legged posture and serene surroundings, however, contradict with an essence of femininity. Sherman herself admits in this series of works that even she herself cannot recognize her own identity, and that by camouflaging herself in so many ways she only reveals her true identity through a small portion throughout her body of work5. By organizing herself into this scene, Sherman is enduring a process that questions one's own identity. It is a common scenario that one does not see themselves through the perspective of the opposite gender. The outcome of this ritual brings light to one's personal belief, whether euphoric or dysphoric, a pathway is built towards a journey of self-discovery. By doing this, Sherman is asking her audience to self-reflect. Not to assume or criticize others presentations, but to perceive androgyny through all states including self. This allows for a broader interpretation of the work itself and of androgynous bodies as a whole. Anybody can behold the title of androgyny, and Sherman challenges the audience to consider this so that the acceptance of androgynous bodies is more attainable.

Through the abject works of Gober, Smith and Sherman, Androgynous bodies have found a way to make peace within the contemporary world. By revealing the commonality and presence of androgyny through their own interpretation, their audiences have been forced to face their existence, and reflect on gender and identity as a whole as something that is not as binary as the traditional teachings claim. The concept of the abject allowed a gateway for these perspectives, as it was so far estranged from the reality of the contemporary that it could not be dismissed or looked away from. This in turn drove all attention towards it and succeeded in achieving what it was intended for, knowledge. Knowledge and acceptance for what has always existed and will forevermore, and is that of the androgynous body.

Written by Nix Francia, 2022

Sueno, Etching/Aquatint, Kiki Smith, 1992