Identity in Contemporary Art: Trap or Tool for Empowerement?

Abstract

The goal of this thesis is to better understand the nuances of identity politics in contemporary art by exploring the ways in which labels and identity can be a form of representation but can also trap artists in a cycle of constant and continuous marginalization. By understanding the power structures within contemporary art and how these manifest in the form of dominate, hegemonic groups that have declared themselves the authority for what constitutes art, we can see how marginalized communities have been pushed into otherness. It is important to understand this relationship between dominate hegemonies and others as a relationship between those who label and those who are labelled, a power imbalance that continues to effect artists of marginalized communities to this day. As we attempt to move forward toward diversity and representation, it is imperative that artists recognize this dynamic and its possible consequences as they claim identities or allow others to label them since greater representation is not always the outcome of embracing an identity or label. We will look at historical references of otherness and examine how anyone outside of the Western white male is at a disadvantage, even if it may seem that we in the art world are making strides in creating a more diverse community.