Matthew Barney's Androgynous Body in 1990s America
In a 1992 artpress article, Brooks Adams examines Matthew Barney's use of his own body in sculptures and video performances, contrasting it with Jeff Koons's domestic conjugality. Barney's work taps into the unbridled, polymorphous imagination of the transvestite, exploring body imagery, the transition from athlete to artist, and fin-de-siècle androgyny. Adams situates this within the contemporary American context of a return to moral order and the spread of AIDS.
Key facts
- Matthew Barney stages his own body in sculptures and video performances.
- Brooks Adams wrote the article for artpress in 1992.
- Barney's work is contrasted with Jeff Koons's ordinary conjugality.
- The article explores polymorphous ambiguity and transvestite imagination.
- It examines the transition from athlete to artist.
- Androgyny is placed in a fin-de-siècle context.
- The American context includes a return to moral order and the AIDS epidemic.
Entities
Artists
- Matthew Barney
- Jeff Koons
- Brooks Adams
Institutions
- artpress
Locations
- United States
Sources
- artpress —