V rámci vyučování angličtiny na FaVU Bára Lungová zadala svým studentům a studentkám téma eseje "How to study to become a woman artist?". Některé texty budou zde se souhlasem autorek a autorů zveřejněny:

How to study to a woman artist.

How to study to a woman artist. I was always scared to have to make an
answer for question like this. Maybe a reason is that I think that the question on
its own is quite bad. Maybe it is because it lost meaning a few years ago.
Nowadays women are majority of students at art schools, but one hundred years
ago? Yes, at those times this question would have a reason. But now we aren’t at
a situation when women can study only at the Drawing and Painting School for
Ladies. We can choose and we do choose and study. I’m afraid of that question
How to study to a woman artist or project don’t deal with main problem of
women artists. When you are at college, you’ve got time only for yourself and
your work. You are in art is to company, you’ve got contact, friends in the same
field. Nothing is against your art development (even if you are a woman, in my
opinion). But „problems“ comes after graduation.You start work (if you find it)
and the instinct of motherhood definitely coming by little steps. So, there is now
another question, for me a more important and meaningful. How to be woman
artist? How not to stop to be woman artist? If there were projects dealing with
this question I will be intrested in it, but the problem of studying is solved, so it’s
make me cold.
If I look at it from another point of view, I must say that I'm still quite
confused. Is there any difference between How to study to became a woman
artist and How to study to became a man artist? I'm sorry, but I think that there
isn't. Everybody just tries to be an artist and study for it. I've never had any
problem in my studies only because I'm a woman (but it's true that I'm only in my
second degree). Of course that there are moments when I'm disadvantaged in the
area which I have chosen, but a reason is only anatomical. I'haven't too much
power and muscles like men. This is only one problem which I have in relation
womanhood and studies and it can be solved very quickly if you've got around
you good people. However, I should shift back to the question about the
difference between women art studying and men art studying. I would like to find
the differece, maybe I'm not enough a woman to know what is different.
Yes, women have a more difficult position: they must oscilate between
two roles if they want to be an artists. Art and motherhood or family, as you like
it. We can make an objection that it can be reconciled, yes it can be great
inspiration, but I think that never happened absolutely links between. It's more
heavy, but again it doesn't come during the studies ( but we have still young
student mothes). So, I can't resist the feeeling, that this question and answering
on it nothing solved or search problem where there is none. Maybe that I've got
this negative attitude because of the exagerating feminist approach, which I see
around myself. Why it must be feminist research? Only research is bad or
uninteresting? I don't know. It's important to find and improve your postion in
life as well in studies too, but Is this the right way how to do it? I mean, how can
it help to solve the question how to study to became a woman artist.
But on the other hand it's great that something different happened at our
faculty, such as performances, exhibitions, and cultural events. I'm not against
gender art: there are a lot of really good things, but when I see some art work, I
don't think about the sex of the author. It's clear that we are absolutely different
people, but it is only for better. However, I'm afraid of that the thing which most
hurts the project of Lenka Vráblíková is its title. It's only my opinion, but when
I talked with other people they were quite confused too. Why do we use the
attribute of feminism or art (ant it's worse) for everything where it isn't like
exhibiton opening where are only drunk peple, they make only awful noise and
call it art. It's our great disease. Yes, there are a lot of things which could be
improved, but it isn't question of womenhood at the faculty: it is about the
presentation, abilities and level of our school and doesn't matter if you are
woman or man.

Louise Bourgeois - rewrite

Louise Bourgeois was born in December 25, 1911. She spent her childhood in Choisy-le roi
near Paris, where her parents owned a workshop specialised for repairing tapestries. They also had a
gallery of historic tapestries. When she was 12 years old, she started helping them drawing the
missing segments. She grew up in part of France where women woved and men cut stone in
quarries.
Her mother was a tapestry restorer. Bourgeois sais:“She employed abot twenty girls and this group
of weavers had an influence on me as a woman and as an artist “. Her mother was also a passionate
feminist, the follower of the activist Louise Michel, after whom she gave name for her daughter.
From her childhood came up a lot of memories (like her domestic confinement) which affected her
and her art works. One of them is that her father was unfaithful to Louise's mother in their house
and Louise knew it. She moved soon to Paris to study painting. She studied at various schools of
art. She was there from 1936 to 1938. In 1938, she married a thirty-two year old American art
historian Robert Goldwater and moved to New York with him and in1951 she became an
Americam citizen. He died in 1973. She has three sons with him. She lives in New York and works
in her studio in Brooklyn.
Patricia Piccinini - rewrite
Patricia Piccinini wasc born in 1965 in Freetown, Sierra Leone. She emigrated to Australia
in 1972 with her family. She graduated from Economic history at Australian National University in
Canberra in 1988 and from painting at Victorian College of the arts in Melbourne 1991. Her interest
in medicine began when she was a teenager. Her mother was very sick for many years before she
died and during the time she hoped that medicine could help her. I didn't find another information
about her personal life, but in some interview she talked about her experience when she had her first
baby on chest and felt breathing, so I supose that she has more than one baby.
She lives and works in Melbourne. I apologise for choosing little bit older woman than fourty, but i
must say that she looks much younger than she is.

How to study to become a woman artist?

By means of sociologising approaches the artist is characterized as a role, or a position, which is learned by an individual within his/her own society and culture. In this essay I would like to analyze these concepts as they are, or are not related to my own creation. An emphasis will be also given on gender aspects of art creation and my own perception of these aspects.
When I started to prepare this essay, I realized it was difficult for me to think about myself in these terms. I admit that before reading some other articles on this topic I didn´t think about gender and some other aspects of being an artist, and in some ways, these articles “opened my eyes”. I have realized that the art world is highly influenced by different trends in society. I assume that this is basically wrong, that the artist should create independently, but here he/she is or is forced to rather reproduce these society trends, if he/she wants to be successful. By success here I mean the economic success (his/her artwork is sold), influence (his/her artwork is exhibited, commented, published…) and, generally speaking, the fame. I am now in my first year of study, and I believe this is the best time to start thinking about these trends and their possible influence on me.
I consider my biggest issue to be the question of what is, and what is not a true expression of myself, and what is rather environmentally influenced. These influences could be described as some kind of collective consciousness about the artwork which shared by the art society.
There is an important point to be considered, and that is the reason of the artist’s work. If the artist works and sells, in other words, if he/she makes a living out of his art, he/she does have much smaller chances to get out of this vicious circle. If he/she, on the other hand, is not dependant on his artworks as a mean of making money, e.g. they has some other job, or he/she is sponsored by some multimillionaire, then it is much easier for them to be free of these society forces of what is and what is not a good, or valuable art. That might be a reason why some artists tend to do even low-paid jobs (e.g. teachers on the art schools), just to have something to live off, so they can independently work. It is not, however, the ultimate get-out from this situation. Even after this, these people are still confronted with the conceptions of what good art is, which are shared among their art colleagues. Artists tend to look at the economic potential of the artwork as a despicable factor. It is not possible to maintain the real distance from the economic needs.
Another aspect of the collective consciousness as it had been mentioned above is created and constructed by the art schools themselves. These schools educate the future artists. We can say that in a way, they form young people who are interested in art to somehow understand this phenomenon and deal with it. Serious doubts could be raised in this. Is it really possible to teach somebody to be independent and individualistic in an environment which is basically created on a collaboration and cooperation in the environment which contains a group of people? Of course, it could, and probably is considered. But the school work itself is performed in studios where many people interact and therefore influence each other. The collective consciousness is created right here.
I think that it is important to explore and go further and further in this exploration. That is the only way to go beyond the collective consciousness.
I personally don’t see myself as a woman in the art world, but as a person. Maybe there is no difference between studying to become a woman artist and studying to become a man artist. Until now, I have not been confronted with the gender aspects of being an artist, probably because I am still a student and I don’t have enough experience. It is difficult for me to understand that it could make a difference. I believe that it is more important what a person creates, then what is his/her gender. Yet I have to say again, this is an opinion created on just a very short experience on university and it could easily change soon. But still, I hope it will not.

How to become a woman artist...

On an exhibition of european 2030's art at MOMA in New York is a small Czech pavilion, in which we can find two pieces by two famous woman side by side. In the left corner a crystal sculpture covered with pulsating magic energy stands, and alongside whit it is a 3-D hologram with a video documentation of a painful masochistic performance. Here in this small room two human destinies meet after long years. So different but after all so similar.
It begun in 2010 in one class at grammar school, where at school-desk were siting friends – Beatris and Ivana. While Beatris was a sweet little barbie amply supplied with love letters, Ivana was an ugly duckling – already in this preteen age anyone could see that she would get nothing easy
in the future – face with big overlap, big crooked nose, big diopter glasses, bow legs and later in her teens came acne, unform breasts, greasy hair – simply a girl looser. Despite these differences, Ivana and Beatris was best friends, because they both were dreaming about becoming famous painters. Everebody must have recognised a big talent in their first child drawings. For their parents the girls were little kid-Picasso's and no wonder that later they were admitted to a high school of art. However, here their freindship slowly started becoming cold. They hadn't any disputes, just Beatris had found some new friends, while Ivana found first teenage depressions. But enthusiasm about painting still connected Beatris and Ivana together and they both were famous swot's duo in all subjects always rated with an “A”. There was no rivalry between them till the day when a new young teacher of drawing begun working on the school. Perhaps every girl at the school fell in love with him, but Beatris and Ivana were the best at drawing, and so begun to fight to win his favour. There's no doubt that the young teacher was more friendlier to Beatris because she was a sexy “seventeen” and he was just a 23-year old trainee. Soon first gossips about a love affair between Beatris and teacher occurred - about their sex in cabinet or their kissing on the ski-course. Whether these gossips were true or not, for Ivana it was a hard shot which threw her into a total apathy for all people.
After high school the Beatris and Ivana's life roads diverged when they were admitted to art academies in different cities. For Beatris the most beautiful years of her life begun. She met cool people, enjoyed parties, lovers, traveling, and after all she realize that she became a part of the art world and that her child dream turned slowly into reality. She painted more busily than at high school and tried to find her own style, though still was there visible influence of her idols Tamara de Lempicka and Cindy Sherman. She depicted only beautiful and successful people, but it cannot be left out that socio-political critique was included in her works as well.
Also Ivana searched her artistic style. Her idols were Toyen and Georgia O'Keeffe and as well as them, Ivana was escaping from the cruel world into her fantasy lands which fascinated many of academy teachers. But sometimes occur in her surreal lands a dark element, which could be interpreted only as a sign of depression in her everyday life. Still, she couldn't and maybe also wouldn't find a boyfriend or just some friends. She begun to hate her body and devoted to herself hard working to earn enough money for plastic operations of nose, breast and her bow-legs...
When the academy years drew to a close, Beatris and Ivana found out that achieving success in the world of art will be much more difficult. Galleries are crowded with ambitious artists, everywhere careerism stinks hand in hand with commerce and in auction hall sell just artworks which are at least 20 years old. The Definition of success turned for our two heroines into earning
a bare living.
Ivana's parents were forced to emigrate to the pensioners island and so couldn't financially support her any longer. Although she was one of the best art-students in Czech, her paintings were selling badly. Academy teachers who had always supported her turned their attention to new talents, and her surrealist style couldn't stand up to competition of digital-surrealism. She had to begin work in supermarket, where she found out her new lover – alcohol. With him and with her dog then she lived in a deep small flat.
Also for Beatris came bad times. After several quarrels with her parents, they stopped supporting her. However, art career looked to be easy for her because she had many acquaintances from the academy years. She also learned to use her charm to compel men – curators and critics – to do what she wanted. But her intrigues sometimes turned against her and she soon realized that it all was just a game which only strong players can play. And she wasn't one. At school she studied always with straight “A's”, but she forgot to learn lying, insidiousness and hypocrisy. So she left her art-career for another time and enjoyed in clubs the rest of her youth. But this way of life, full of fashionable duds, expensive cocktails, and drugs wasn't cheap. The money she earned as barmaid and sometimes as go-go dancer wasn't enough for her cocaine habit and so she had to start play at porn movies...
One night Ivana lay drunk speechless on the floor of her flat and hundreds of kilometers away lay Beatris raped by her drug dealer. Suddenly come up light on the sky and Athena goddess of wisdom appear to both woman and advised them how to stop this misery.
Next morning Ivana has read a newspaper article about telekinetic-speed-meditation in which she later took great interest. She begun using this technique to create fantastic light sculptures of extraordinary shapes which soon brought her worldwide fame... Alike Beatris, who one day took
a camera from the porn studio and staged first hard-core happenings with her colleagues. Then she discovered a totally new socio-political symbolics in sado-masochistic stuff and begun with her famous antiwar porn-performances...
Now our two heroines drinking wine at an exhibition opening at MOMA and kidding about their school times.

I am a women and painter

I am women and painter. I visited a department of painting. There I was happy. But sometimes there were horrible moments. My teacher preferred the men painters. He told me often “women in art there is only for a while” because it is a very serious job. You need plenty of energy. Once psychical energy and physical energy you need very much. A lot of women in art stopped a career for the reasons of making a family or pregnancy. I respect for (look up to) a women execute, who look after children and husband and too when make own art (work). My teacher often told me and other girls from the class that we don’t work that we aren’t interested in art, that we don’t take part in class. We don’t visit a meeting in the class. But it wasn’t true. My teacher was interesting only for women from class. He saw only bad a behaviour in the women. For example, when one women didn’t come to class meeting my teacher started interesting about her and other girls in class. He started scream to us very rudely. Sometimes some women left soon meeting. But it was not honest moment for us women because my teacher didn’t see, that 5 men from class don’t paint don’t visit class meeting. Often there the men got drunk from alcohol drinks. They were very bigheaded. But I know, that I must don’t listening. If you be OK and ready. I didn’t argue because it was better. He was calmer after a monologue than a dialogue. He was very nerves when he was only with women in the class. But even if he often annoyed me I liked him because he motivated me. I wanted be better and better. My class friend – men were very sensible even if then looks were very sough or bad punk. But they were very open and friendly. I liked them. I don’t meet with discrimination in job, but my friend Anna dols. (YES)

Anna has worked in the graphic studio for 2 years. And This summer a new colleague came. Her salary is 250 Kč for 1 hour and his salary is 300 Kč for 1 hour. There she makes 2 years and she doesn’t get more pay. And her new colleague got more pay after 5 months. She was angry. I understood her but I cant help her. Do you know, how help her and other discrimination women?

I know….. I feel………. I want……… a lot of children but I want to be a painter. I hope that I will meet a good man for my life. However I haven’t met him yet.

The Life of Imaginary Lily Pink: From Infliction To Feminism (inspired by true and fictitious life's stories of women)  

This English artist Lily Pink (née  White) was born in 1970 to her mother called Diane White, the famous songstress – Frenchy chanson diva, and to father Mike White who was the son of very influetial and wealthy aristocrat. Lily inherited fantastic beauty and charm from her mum, vast intelligence and native talent from her dad. The reason is clear because Mike White was a famous  illustrator of books. Lily showed her talent ever since her studies at a private basic school which was art-oriented. There she enchanted people around by her ideas for stage properties for school's theatre and won several prizes for her paintworks and for her photos as well. She had excellent academic achievements. Since her tender age, Lily moved around artists and exhibitions thanks to  her parents of course.

And what exactly did Lily White look? She had a very subtle figure through her life, big bright blue eyes, full lips, antic-like nose. She was fair-haired with long curls. Her skin was pale with freckles on it. Lily had great sense for fashion with a touch of French elegance. She was moving like a nymph. All this caused that when she was walking, everybody glimpsed at her. She was what we call the real femme fatale.

When she studied at high school of arts, her grandmother died and Lily was very sad and with a bad depression for a long time. But on the other hand her grand-mum entitled her a little castle with a big garden on the seaside. From this life-period, her art-style started forming into very characteristic looks.

Lily was visiting an elitist university of arts. She didn't have any specialization because she ran to all directions from painting through sculpture to photography. She was given a grant to New York, where she spent one year. And there it happened. She met Mr Perfect but it only seemed like that. His name was John Bill and he was in his early thirties at that time and he worked as a professor of music, playing the piano, at the renowned academy of music. He looked like movie star. She collaborated with him on multi-media projects and they had many respected exhibitions together. And beside these collective exhibitions, Lily had great solo shows; thanks to them, she became famous and “was sold”. These exhibitions included a mix of media and also herself and very original style too. All this success was followed by spontaneous marriage. It all happened very fast. Since she started cooperating with John, they both knew that this all is more than ordinary falling in love.

Because this spoony couple was financially fixed, they decided to leave for new life experiences to Africa when Lily got through her studies. There they actively participated in charity works for poor women, children and families. This two-year period significantly affect their art – it was stronger than before it. And when the spouses came back to New York, in her thirty-first-year Lily gave birth to lovely twin daughters – little blondes Emma and Eve. This triggered a short happy part of her life so Lily changed her surname from White to Pink. For happy and mainly calm upbringing the couple moved to little castle with the daughters inherited from Lily's grand-mum. Back in England, she met her good friend Kate from high school and their friendship became really stable. So Lily invited her to castle where Kate was a  helper with her twins and she was Lily's personal trustee and big support in her creativity. So Lily made many big daisy watercolors with these three models (twins and Kate) from which optimistic and sweet energy sparkled. By the way, John wasn't continuing in his teaching job and he went on developing in his music career – so he became famous and reputable in England too – on the other side he was self-confident as much.

When the twins celebrated their eleventh birthday, Lily had got ill – breast cancer. And on top of that she discovered that her husband had relationship with Kate during all time when lived in the little castle the all together. So... Lily broke down so John got their twins to his care when Lily and John divorced. And he and Kate were so bestial all four of them flew to America. But Lily was so strong so that she won the fight the cancer – unfortunately her left breast had to be displaced. This is one of reasons for why she didn't have some boyfriend for long time. And in fact thanks John's and Kate's huge betrayal her confidence in people was hyper-careful.

 One rich English collector of art bought all her watercolours and this kind of woman artist presented all these money to charity of  help the children of Africa. Because she missed her twins, she adopted a little African girl called Maya. This decision was right, because this daughter restored Lily's verve and vim to make art. Beside this, she became a feminist and started to participate to support of feminism and women rights very actively.

Lily Pink is strange the memory of everyone as an incredibly strong woman, amazing and all-around artist. Unfortunately, she died of overdose in her fifty-three years. Maya continues in Lily's activities.

How to becoma a women artist?

 How to become a women artist? I'd like to ask this question first. A women artist in which context? The fine art context suggests itself naturally. I cannot help myself, but to me “women artist” sounds a bit fancy. There is probably something wrong with me when I being a woman who studies fine art and would like to make my living of it (which might sound naive), cannot define my own present (or forthcoming) situation. If I was a man, I wouldn't call myself  “the artist”.The artist should prove his art in something. In what? Even Tolstoj asked himself a question: “What is art?”. But I cannot tell exactly if I can prove my art in something. I can take the paintbrush in my hand, but can I really paint? That is what I ask myself. Am I a painter, a women painter,  an artist or a women artist? I can wash the dishes, wash and iron the clothes, I can make coffee that probably tastes good only to me. But even then I don't know if I can it really make it well. How could I know then if I can paint well or if I am a (good) women artist. Is it enough to be just good women artist? How to become one?

I am certain about one thing. I cannot view myself from another perspective. I can see it maybe from the inside, but that is quite a complicated way which goes back to beginning very often or is curved, so much that every step further takes ages. Even after a longer time, it is difficult to go through the same path again without getting lost. The experience cannot be retold. And it becomes even worse when one cannot tell one's own experiences to oneself. So where might be the progress? Maybe the progress is that I realize it.

How to become a women artist? What does it mean? According to people who know me, I apparently am one already. Haha, yes, seriously. They say it is the way how I dress and speak. I don't know. I think I was the same even before, at times when I even couldn't draw a cube in perfect linear perspective. But that is maybe what I still cannot, or cannot do it perfectly. And I am back where I have been. So where is the progress?

To ask myself a question how to become a good mother I should at least be sure that I am pregnant. Otherwise this question is just bunch of thoughts and many other questions with my feet high when drinking the camomile tea. You just cannot swim when you are not thrown into the water. Everyone has to try swimming on their own. One of my friends told me recently that it has much more sense to be on maternal vacation that to run around the forest with a machine gun. He is a solder by the way.

Maybe it is not very effective to compare being a parent with being a painter. This friend was quite lucky to change his state of being from being in the army. The artist should gain from being a parent and it should serve her as a source of inspiration. Do I even want to make my living on art? Maybe when it is not a job it might be the destiny. Who knows. It is a hard question.

Sometimes I feel like Vincent. Theo and his wife supported him as they could and he worked, made art, was an artist. But was it worth it? Was he happy after all? I hope he was. I think I am as well, but all those questions...

OK, I am not going to ask any more. I am going to watch, observe and not judge. The power of present moment. No. I cannot. The woman sitting right next to me has such beautiful hands,but those rings... Don't judge! She has a nice jacket. It fits nicely matches her shoes and her handbag. That starts to be embarrassing. Don't judge! No I am not intolerant. This woman could explain me the theory of relativity, but I am not enjoying her. But her hands! All right, is this the woman artist's view of the world, I mean the way I see the world. I don't care in trends. The word itself makes me nervous. I am more interested in if it is there or not. What and where? The answer: everything and everywhere.

I know I cannot adhere to the topic, but there is still the question in me. What does it mean to be a women artist? Is it just about the word “women”? The word “women” has a minor importance to me. I think more how the word itself determines the person. Like for example: it is an idiot or an artist. Or very common: oh yeah...those artists... Which artists? How to see them? Positive or negative or out of the context? Yes, out of the context, that is how I feel sometimes. Or maybe I am to much “in” the context. How to get out of it that? Is it going to be good for anything?

 “I want to be a good person” was once said by a wise man. I want to be a good person who paints by her soul. And how to become a women artist?