Painting is one of the forms of self-expression. Artists often use this media to show their opinion on social and cultural issues. In all Mark Ryden`s work there is a hint at something dark beneath the surface of mass culture. He creates dark paintings in which he combines images of cute children, cultural symbols and incomprehensible and alarming images. Ryden chooses themes that carry cultural connotations. He is interested in what different people and cultures consider sacred. His paintings often contain symbols of Satanism, Freemasonry, alchemy, numerology, different religions, and ideologies, as well as depictions of animals and young children with big eyes. By using symbolism in his paintings Mark Ryden gives hints to the viewer
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She wrote psychoanalytic theory about male gaze arguing that women in cinema are shown to provide men with visual pleasure. This theory can be attributed to all of the entertainment industry and advertisement. Modern society places unrealistic expectations on women. Girls grow up with mass media and even toys dictating what a woman should look like. Women have been discriminated in many aspects of life and visual art is not exception. When analyzing female depictions such motifs as voyeurism, objectification, scopophilia, and woman as an object of male pleasure are most likely to appear (Snow,30). Saint Barbie by Mark Ryden, is a ten by fourteen inch oil on panel paining. It depicts a little blond girl in a pink dress worshiping a Barbie doll who is floating on a pink cloud. Barbie is not wearing any clothing to emphasize that she is just a doll and is made of plastic. The juxtaposition and posture of the Barbie as well as light around the head refers to iconography. Doll plays the role of the goddess for a little girl. The fact that everything in the painting is nice, pink and girly emphasizes stereotypes associated with girls. The young age of the girl symbolizes the fact that in …show more content…
Sexual objectification of women for male spectator makes women not equal to man but it became the norm in today’s society. By creating a satirical painting Mark Ryden tries to open viewer’s eyes on the truth about gender inequality existing in modern
She wrote psychoanalytic theory about male gaze arguing that women in cinema are shown to provide men with visual pleasure. This theory can be attributed to all of the entertainment industry and advertisement. Modern society places unrealistic expectations on women. Girls grow up with mass media and even toys dictating what a woman should look like. Women have been discriminated in many aspects of life and visual art is not exception. When analyzing female depictions such motifs as voyeurism, objectification, scopophilia, and woman as an object of male pleasure are most likely to appear (Snow,30). Saint Barbie by Mark Ryden, is a ten by fourteen inch oil on panel paining. It depicts a little blond girl in a pink dress worshiping a Barbie doll who is floating on a pink cloud. Barbie is not wearing any clothing to emphasize that she is just a doll and is made of plastic. The juxtaposition and posture of the Barbie as well as light around the head refers to iconography. Doll plays the role of the goddess for a little girl. The fact that everything in the painting is nice, pink and girly emphasizes stereotypes associated with girls. The young age of the girl symbolizes the fact that in …show more content…
Sexual objectification of women for male spectator makes women not equal to man but it became the norm in today’s society. By creating a satirical painting Mark Ryden tries to open viewer’s eyes on the truth about gender inequality existing in modern