home
about
artists
exhibitions press
contact
purchase |
|
|
JAMIE MCCARTNEY
The Great Wall Of Vagina
Female genitalia
have long been a source of fascination, recently of celebration but
generally of confusion. Today it seems that creating images of the
vagina is the sole preserve of pornographers, erotic artists and
feminists. Step in British artist Jamie McCartney who has grasped
the nettle to create a monumental wall sculpture all about this most
intimate of places. For 400 women their privates are about to go
public... Half a decade since
its humble beginnings, The Great Wall of Vagina has enticed women
from all over the world to volunteer to be cast by McCartney in an
overwhelmingly positive reaction to the project. The 9 metre long
polyptych consists of four hundred plaster casts of vulvas, all of
them unique, arranged into ten large panels. McCartney set out to
make this project as broad and inclusive as possible. The age range
of the women is from 18 to 76. Included are mothers and daughters,
identical twins, transgendered men and women as well as a woman pre
and post natal and another one pre and post labiaplasty. It's not vulgar,
it's vulva! This isn't just sensation, it is art with a social
conscience and McCartney wants people to stop, look and listen. This
is about grabbing the attention, using humour and spectacle, and
then educating people about what normal women really look like.
Described as "the Vagina Monologues of sculpture" this piece is
intended to change the lives of women, forever "For many women their
genital appearance is a source of anxiety and I was in a unique
position to do something about that." Vulvas and labia
are as different as faces and many people, particularly women, don't
seem to know that. McCartney hopes this sculpture will help to
combat the exponential rise, seen in recent years, of cosmetic
labial surgeries. This worrying trend to create 'perfect' vaginas is
the modern day equivalent of female genital mutilation and sets a
worrying precedent for future generations of women. The Great Wall of
Vagina makes for fascinating and revealing viewing which is a far
cry from pornography. It is not erotic art. It is not about
titillation. McCartney has pulled off an amazing trick, to
deliberately make the sexual nonsexual and take you much deeper. One
is able to stare without shame but in wonder and amazement at this
exposé of human variety. "It's time our
society grew up around these issues and I'm certain that art has a
role to play" To allow as many
people as possible to see it a UK tour is planned for later in the
year |
|
 |
|