1. VIRTUAL MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART
EXPLORING GENDER AND IDENTITY
In today’s society, many people ask themselves whether they fit into the standards and norms that have been created. On one hand, the standards of sexuality, gender, and identity, make people question “Who am I?”, “Where do I belong?”, “Am I a true man or woman?”, “What is sexual for a man or woman?”, etc. On the other hand, the stereotypes created by todays’ society have a great impact that make people fearful of their self-expression. While a person’s gender may begin with the assignment of his/her sex based on his/her genital characteristics, the true identity of a person goes beyond biological aspect of gender. This virtual exhibition “Exploring Gender and Identity” features the artists who are not afraid of expressing the complex interrelationships between their identity, body language, and self-expression. Not only they touch the question of masculine vs feminine, male vs female, and gender binarity (cisgender vs transgender), but also explore the relationships with the standards of our society through their art.
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CURATOR + CREDITS

2. Room 1
ROOM 1
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3. Room 2 ROOM 2 Add Artifact 7 MUSEUM LOBBY
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4. Room 3
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5. EXPLORING GENDER AND IDENTITY
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According to genderspectrum.org, “a person’s gender is the complex interrelationship between three dimensions”. These dimensions are body (biological aspect of gender), identity (how we actually feel about ourselves), and expression (how we introduce our gender to the society). A people’s relationships between their body and gender depend not so much on their individual experiences of their own bodies, but rather on social expectations and stereotypes. Accepted gender functions, norms, and roles are predefined by the society in a degree that most people cannot see any other way of gendering. In a modern world, social groups and institutions influence people’s thinking. Whereas the majority of us feel comfortable in our own bodies, some of us have been struggling. In many countries, this topic is not acceptable in any ways. In some countries, such as United Arab Emirates, for example, homosexual relations are officially considered as a crime. In Sudan, homosexuality is punishable by death. Even in the United States, the country of ‘freedom of self-expression’, LGBT rights varied on a state-by-state basis. Only by 2015, all states legally accepted same-sex marriages. However, only twenty states plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico (lgbtmap.org) outlaw discrimination based on gender identity and expression. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania still does not try to end legal discrimination of LGBT residents. After investigating deeply these unfair facts and data, how can we not pay attention on the whole art Universe dedicated to exploration of gender and identity? If many people are afraid of their self-expression, artist should at least let them relate their issues to the modern world. Through the artworks, people and artists awaken their voices and communicate with the rest of the world. Artists presented in this exhibition, including Kruger, Harris, Greiman, argue that gender is not what truly defines a person. Some artists, such as Sabean ridicule modern stereotypes created by society in a comical way. Some artists, such as Smith, bring up strong messages about some really tough issues different genders have to experience nowadays. Some artists, such as Reimer, Warhol, and Harris, intentionally photograph portraits of themselves wearing ambiguous costumes to emphasize identity roles. Some artists, such as Abramovic and Ulay, try to represent the third entity born from the interaction of male and female energies. All together, these artists create a very powerful social resonance which in some ways helps people to answer questions such as “who am I?” and “where do I belong?”. In this exhibition, viewers are looking at three rooms. The first room has two digital collages, one self-portrait, and the sculpture. Barbara Kruger’s digital collage opens up an exhibition by showing viewers perhaps one of the main messages this exhibition is about to make - “Gender is Irrelevant”. With this in mind, viewers are about to get a powerful emotional response by looking at the same time at the comical collage of Rion Sabean, funny self-portrait of Andy Warhol, and serious Kiki Smith’s “Tale” sculpture, which can impress as much as disgust everyone. The second room has three black-and-white works, where both male and female artists investigate identity and self-expression through their self-portraits. “Billie #1” by Lyle Ashton Harris opens up the second room. Playing a role of transvestite prostitute, he shows that self-expression goes far beyond biological assignment of gender. The biggest work is April Greiman’s digital collage “Does It Make Sense?” where the author asks in the very title whether it makes sense to push boundaries in ways that are still felt. Finally, Marina Abramovic and Ulay in their “Relation in Time” represent interactions between genders, and energies created by these interactions. The third room has two images and one video by one current-time artist Lyle Reimer, who presents his work through Instagram. Since his work exists only in a social media world, all three works are projected on the walls (and therefore the room is dark-lit). Starting out as unknown make-up artist and searching for the sublime in everyday life, Reimer creates series of self-portraits with unexpected costumes and mixed media attached to his face. It is never boring to look who weekly creates new crazy portraits. Since now he has never been afraid of his self-expression, he is the final and most powerful piece in the puzzle of this exhibition. To sum up, modern American artists featured in this exhibition explore the relationships between gender and society. They were not the first to do so. However, over the last forty years, they refused to categorize genders as only male and female. They explored questions of transgender, bisexuality, and many other new sexual entities born from the interaction of all mentioned above.

6. UNTITLED (GENDER IS IRRELEVANT)
Artist: Barbara Kruger
Year: 1989
Media: photographic silkscreen on vinyl
Size: 126 x 112 in
Barbara Kruger explores the cultural construction of gender. To convey the meaning, she appropriates contemporary images and texts from mass media and advertising. This piece is an example of her series of monochromatic photographs with overlaid slogans reflecting the power of gender and identity. Through this piece, Kruger argues that gender is not what truly defines the person. She proves that the identity of a person goes beyond his/her biological characteristics. White letters against red background also emphasize a strong response on feminism and equality, which intentionally brings attention of a viewer to the majority of her work.
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7. MEN-UPS http://hildefjas.blogspot.com/2011/10/men-ups.html
Artist: Rion Sabean
Date: 2011
Media: Digital Photography
Size: 1600 x 1199
A humorous series of men doing pin-up style poses is made to poke fun at common gender roles. Presednted in popular media, it looks especially funny when these feminine poses are done by men. Sabean is particularly interested in gender roles. He claims, "It has always interested me how the sexes have been pitted against one another and taught to believe that gender roles/identities and biologically assigned sexes were one in the same, especially since that couldn’t be further from the truth. How can color have a sex? How can a pose be acceptable (and even provocative) for one, and not the other?” (featureshoot.com ).
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8. TALE http://tinyurl.com/8tqn66n Artist: Kiki Smith Date: 1992
Media: Beewax, pigment, paper-mâché
Size: 160 x 23 x 23 in
Even though this work tries to disgust everyone, Smith says she did not make this sculpture out of a desire to provoke. This piece has a strong message about kind of shame and humiliation women experience nowadays. Not being able to hide it, women are dragging the garbage of their deep internal problems with them all the time.
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9. SELF-PORTRAIT IN DRAG Artist: Andy Warhol Date: 1981
Media: Polaroid dye diffusion print
Size: 4 ¼ x 3 5/16 in
Andy Warhol was highly interested in construction photographic portraits of himself dedicated to gender and identity, especially in the wake of LGBT community and HIV/AIDS epidemic. “Andy Warhol enjoyed dressing for parties in drag, sometimes in dresses of his own design. He admired "the boys who spend their lives trying to be complete girls," so in 1981 he and a photographic assistant, Christopher Makos, agreed to collaborate on a session portraying Warhol in drag” (
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10. BILLIE #1 Artist: Lyle Ashton Harris Date: 2008
Media: archival pigment print
Size: 40 x 34 in
Concentrating his attention on identity roles, Harris does not make self-portraits, but his body plays a role of a canvas instead. “These theatrical pictures, each with its own pulse and vitality, document Harris assuming a variety of roles. Here he's a boxer; there he's Billie Holliday; here, a transvestite prostitute. As such, they are portraits of various selves, which many of us may be able to identify with, but selves that may or may not be part of the real Lyle Ashton Harris” (
This work opens up the second “black and white” room of the gallery since Harris’ deliberate choice of colors and sepia shade play another role of the subjects’ race which was associated with 1860s New Negro movement and 1920s Harlem Renaissance (
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11. RELATION IN TIME Artist: Marina Abramovic, Ulay Date: 1977
Media: Gelatin-silver print mounted  on alu-dibond
Size: 110 x 150 cm
In this work, even though both artists are tied together by their hair, each looking in a different direction. This work reflects a third entity born from the interaction of male and female energies. Both artists were partners in love and performance art. They tried to find the balance and harmony between body and mind and to show how their combination interact within genders.
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12. DOES IT MAKE SENSE? Artist: April Greiman Date: 1986
Media: Photolithograph
Size: 25 1/2 × 76 in.
There is a famous quote “Design must seduce, shape, and perhaps more importantly, evoke an emotional response” by Greiman. In this work, outstretched naked body of the author, which is her self-portrait, interacts with images and text in a digital collage of an unusual scale. Perhaps, in the name of this work “Does it make sense?” Greiman asks the audience whether her collage design evokes an expected emotional response.
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13. METAMORPHOSISSY Artist: Lyle Reimer Date: 2017 Media: Instagram Video
Lyle Reimer is a makeup artist who works at MAC Cosmetics’ artistry and development program in Vancouver. In 2013, after building himself a home studio, Reimer started his Instagram account and instantly became famous. For his portraits, he uses not only crazy make up, wigs, and hair accessories, but also everything people may even think of including food, electronics, auto parts, and the most unexpected garbage recycle items.
To see Lyle Reimer’s works in Instagram, use:
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14. UNTITLED Artist: Lyle Reimer Date: 2017
Media: Instagram Picture (1080 x 1299 px)
This look was inspired by the nurse collection of the American painter Richard Prince. That was Reimer’s version of Prince’s painting which appeared in CANDY Magazine in July, 2017.
Reimer changes his sense of identity and character by using costumes, makeup, and unusual props, and thus depicts parts of his personal characteristics and fashion movements.
To see Lyle Reimer’s works in Instagram, use:
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15. UNTITLED Artist: Lyle Reimer Date: 2017
Media: Instagram Picture (640 x 640 px)
Have you ever seen selfies like that before? In fact, Reimer’s selfies are called works of art.
It has never been boring to look at the new Instagram who presents himself to be the ultimate master of reincarnation and explores identity using his multiple alter egos.
To see Lyle Reimer’s works in Instagram, use:
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16. ANNA ARSIRIY IMAGE CREDITS
Anna Arsiriy is a New Media Art Major at Penn State Abington. Born and raised in Kazan, Russia she has always wanted to explore her artistic talents. In June 2011, Anna was qualified as a Bachelor of Engineering at Kazan National Research Technical University. She moved to the United States when she was 21 and started her artistic career in the U.S.
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CITATIONS
IMAGE CREDITS

17. CITATIONS Return to Curator
“Understanding Gender.” Gender Spectrum, 2017, “Kids Pay the Price.” Movement Advancement Project | Non-Discrimination Laws, 8 Dec. 2017, maps/non_discrimination_laws. “Hilarious Male Pin up Photos by Rion Sabean.” Feature Shoot, 28 Aug. 2015, “Self-Portrait in Drag (Getty Museum).” The J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles, warhol-self-portrait-in-drag-american /. “He Is Some Body: Lyle Ashton Harris's Enigmatic Self-Portraits.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 1 Feb. 2008, “Americas.” Guggenheim, 4 Dec. 2017,
Virtual museums were introduced by educators at Keith Valley Middle School. Original template by Dr. Christy Keeler modified by William Cromar. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.