Women’s Caucus for Art to Examine Definition of Beauty

Personal and cultural definitions of beauty--and the relationship between the two--will be explored in a two-day conference sponsored by the Southern California Women’s Caucus for Art.

The second annual conference, which will be held today and Saturday at USC, will feature artists, historians and other art professionals.

“Since beauty has been and continues to be evoked as a standard for art, the conference will attempt to develop a stronger definition of beauty by introducing issues of culture and identity,” conference coordinator Susan Jenkins said. Multiculturalism has made it necessary to redefine beauty, she said, and there is a growing awareness that beauty is not just found in one culture.

Faith Ringgold, artist, author and art professor at UC San Diego, will present the keynote speech Saturday at 10 a.m.

A highly personal artist, Ringgold has worked mainly in nontraditional materials such as quilts and soft sculpture, much of it dealing with her experiences as an African-American and as a woman. A 25-year retrospective of Ringgold’s work is being held at the Museum of African American Art through Nov. 8.

Discussion topics will include “Beauty Is a Weasel Word: A Multicultural Perspective on Issues of Aesthetics and Value.” One of the participants will be L.A. installation artist Kim Yasuda, an art professor at Cal State Fullerton.

Born of a Japanese mother and a Russian-Austrian father, then adopted by second-generation Japanese-Americans, Yasuda has also experienced the artistic search through multiple cultures and media. In her most recent installation last April at the Newport Harbor Art Museum, as part of the “New California Artist” series, Yasuda cast a bamboo fishing pole line through a small hole in the wall to penetrate an adjoining room which contained images referring to her Western upbringing.

Another panel discussion, titled “In & Through the Body,” will be led by Betty Ann Brown, an art historian who teaches at Cal State Northridge. Artists will present videos and slides of their work that deal with the issue of beauty.

Last year, Brown collaborated with California photographer Kenna Love and art historian Arlene Raven on “Exposures: Women and Their Art.”

Participants can register at the conference. Fees are $55 for caucus members, $65 for non-members and $20 for students. Single-day registration is also available.