“Art is for Life’s Sake”: Subversion and Honesty in the Work of Hannah Wilke

by Natasha Long

Hannah Wilke's artistic expression encompassed a vibrant life, spanning various mediums such as painting, sculpture, photography, video, and performance. As an American artist from 1940 to 1993, her work seamlessly wove together diverse forms of creative exploration. For Wilke, art and life are so closely connected that her work follows a process of ‘becoming’. In 1975 she commented, “I become my art, my art becomes me”. Wilke produced art in the politically charged climate of the United States in the 1970s onwards, operating at a moment when feminism greatly influenced the aesthetic field. Wilke integrates her own body as her subject matter and conceptually examines themes of gender, sexuality and feminism. Through subversion and honesty, she aims to challenge and empower her viewers, seeking to shift society towards liberation.  

Hannah Wilke. S.O.S. – Starification Object Series. 1974-82. Gelatine silver prints with chewing gum sculptures. 101.6 x 148.6 x 5.7cm. MoMA. 

In the 1970s Wilke began working with photography, challenging traditional media representations of women in commercial culture, addressing consumerism, capitalism and the patriarchy. ‘S.O.S. Starification Series’ was performed in 1975 for the public, Wilke gave visitors gum to chew and return to her before laying what became vulva-shaped forms on the upper half of her bare body. The ephemeral performance was then documented in a series of black and white photographs, “performalist self-portraits”, featuring the artist posing, reminiscent of a ‘pin-up’. Below the photographs is a horizontal row of the physical gum sculptures. The vaginal forms were often used as an image of empowerment by artists in the 1970s, and were a crucial part of Wilke’s artistic expression. Interestingly, the artist has noted that she saw the gum also resembling the head of a phallus, acknowledging androgyny in the gum form. The photographs are direct, the gum visually juxtaposing her skin interpreted as scarring or suggestive of fetish. As a material, the gum was a tool to question society’s opposition towards the word ‘vagina’ and poor treatment of women. Wilke stated that the gum is “the perfect metaphor for the American woman – chew her up, get what you want out of her, throw her own and pop in a new piece”. Wilke thus draws attention to how society objectifies women, the body viewed as disposable object like the gum. Referencing the title of the work, using a pun of ‘starification’ to suggest links between celebrity star glamour and distress, Wilke calls ‘S.O.S.’ out to her viewers, drawing attention to pressing contemporary issues.  

Hannah Wilke, Marxism and Art: Beware of Fascist Feminism, (1977) Lithograph on paper. Tate. 

An image from the ‘S.O.S’ series was featured in a 1977 poster by Wilke, entitled ‘Marxism and Art: Beware of Fascist Feminism’. The poster was for an exhibition in the Women’s Building, Los Angeles, of the same year, responding to the Center for Feminist Art Historical Studies’ project ‘What is Feminist Art?’ In the image Wilke has the chewed gum and a tie around her neck. The poster’s text responds to critics of her work, including feminist critic Lucy Lippard, who accused Wilke of flaunting her body in her art in 1976. The Museum of Modern Art when discussing the ‘S.O.S.’ series states that, “she pointedly harnessed the simple truth of her good looks”. ‘Beware of Fascist Feminism’ challenges prejudice, inviting us to look beyond the image. Believing prejudice begins with sight, Wilke commented that that “people are first visually prejudice and that’s why I made myself very visual”. Therefore, Wilke explores how prejudice can come from anyone against conventional female roles and femininity.  

“Art is for life’s sake” Wilke stated. A palpable statement with the knowledge that the artist passed away at the age of fifty-two from lymphoma, before previously caring for her mother undergoing breast cancer treatment. Wilke continued to create art right up to her death in 1993. Using photography and film as a form of documentation for her illness, Wilke maintained the themes and her own body as subject throughout her artist practice, creating personal artworks informed by individual experience.

Hannah Wilke, Intra-Venus Series #4, July 26th and February 19th 1992 

Hannah Wilke, Intra-Venus Series #6 (1992) 

Intra-Venus (1991-3) is a series of large-scale portraits charting Wilke’s battle with cancer. Instilled with honesty, often posing nude, Wilke records her bodily changes as a result of her illness, including loss of hair and visible intravenous tubes on her skin. The title’s pun inclusion is typical of Wilke’s practice. Here, Wilke references Venus the Roman goddess of love and the ‘intravenous’ treatments Wilke received after her diagnosis. Wilke thus compares her own body to Venus, held as the pinnacle of conventional female beauty in art history, challenging our extremely limited concepts of beauty. Wilke vulnerably confronts us. In one photograph, the artist looks at the viewer, her gaze serious and direct, we are called to face her. She challenges her viewers, including her critics, who criticised Wilke throughout her career suggesting her narcissistic drive towards producing art with her own naked body. Thus, this series is a continuation of the themes explored in her previous works, observing society’s lack of interest in viewing visual representations of women who do not adhere to traditional and ideal beauty standards and femininity. Using her own body, Wilke practises self-love and empowerment in her art, finding life even in the face of death. 

Wilke’s approach to art was experimental, playful and political. When encountering her art, the audience is faced with images that may give discomfort or appear unfamiliar, making Wilke’s practice fundamentally honest and real. Examining how humans experience life, the good and the bad, Wilke invites viewers to look beyond the image and our narrow societal norms to generate change and find liberation.  

Bibliography: 

Anne Boyer, “Hannah Wilke: Living As Art”. ArtNews. October 20, 2021. https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/features/hannah-wilke-living-as-art-pulitzer-arts-foundation-1234607565/  

Hannah Abel-Hirsch, “Hannah Wilke’s work remains as challenging and relevant as ever”. British Journal of Photography. October 27, 2021. https://www.1854.photography/2021/10/hannah-wilkes-work-remains-as-challenging-and-relevant-as-ever/  

“Hannah Wilke: Art for Life’s Sake”. Exhibition Guide. Pulitzer Arts Foundation. 2021. https://pulitzerarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/20210601-Hannah-Wilke_Exhibition-Guide_v1.pdf  

“Hannah Wilke. S.O.S. – Starification Object Series. 1974-82”. MoMA. https://www.moma.org/collection/works/102432  

“Marxism and Art: Beware of Fascist Feminism. Hannah Wilke. 1977”. Tate. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/wilke-marxism-and-art-beware-of-fascist-feminism-p79357