Transgressions : drag and contemporary self-portrait photography
Abstract
[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] This thesis explores three photographic self-portraits produced in the 1990s, in which artists invert, distort or exaggerate culturally defined roles in order to undermine the ontological status of gender and/or racial identities. These artists - Yasumasa Morimura, Catherine Opie and Lyle Ashton Harris - use drag in self-portrait photography in ways that recall, expand on and revise previous postmodern models. Rather than exclusively engaging in deconstructionist play, these artists reveal identity to be a negotiable site constructed through lived community interactions.
Degree
M.A.
Thesis Department
Rights
Access is limited to the campus of the University of Missouri--Columbia.