ENGLISH 124 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Alison Lapper, Body Art, Elgin Marbles
5 Apr 2016
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Sculpting body ideals: alison lapper pregnant and the public display of disability. Alison lapper pregnant (2005) - british artist marc quinn. Monumental statue in london"s trafalgar square - displays a nude, full body portrait of. British resident and artist alison lapper - who was born without arms and with shortened legs - unclothed and seven months pregnant. Work has been highly criticized for capitalizing on the shock value of disability, as well as lauded for its progressive social values. Adopt the highly idealizing traditions and conventions of neoclassicism, the art form characteristically employed for public statues, which idealize public figures and the often patriarchal and nationalistic social values such statues personify. Lapper"s body on display makes a bold statement about representations of disability in the public realm. Work embodies the stereotypes of disability as heroic, tragic, and freakish and functions to make such stereotypes visible, part of public discourse, and open for debate.
