Importance of Association IV

Importance of Association IV

1997
Artist
Lisa Yuskavage, American, 1962-
Born: Philadelphia, PA
Work Locations: New York, NY
Object
monotype
Medium
monotype on paper
Accession Number
2001.886
Credit Line
Gift from Vicki and Kent Logan to the Collection of the Denver Art Museum
Lisa Yuskavage (American). Importance of Association IV. 1997. monotype on paper. Gift from Vicki and Kent Logan to the Collection of the Denver Art Museum. 2001.886.
Dimensions
height: 7 3/4 in, 19.6850 cm; width: 10 in, 25.4000 cm; frame height: 15 1/4 in, 38.7350 cm; frame width: 17 3/8 in, 44.1325 cm; frame depth: 1 1/4 in, 3.1750 cm
Department
Modern and Contemporary Art
Collection
Modern and Contemporary Art

Lisa Yuskavage combines the classical painting techniques of the Renaissance masters with the tawdry content of soft porn.  Along with John Currin and Catherine Howe, Yuskavage mocks sexual stereotypes of women with parody and hyperbole.  Through the exaggeration of the female anatomy, she exposes the ludicrous and abusive nature of the male fantasy.  Her figures are endowed with all of the traits of a sexual nymphet.  According to male sexual desire, such attributes would be considered "assets," yet from a female perspective, the overly inflated breasts would be nothing more than a burden.
  
While sarcastically condemning images of objectified women, her work also hints at a crisis in female subjectivity.  Women, confronted with images in the media that simultaneously preach sexual liberation and sexual exploitation, enter into an ambivalent relationship with their bodies. Yuskavage's work aims to reveal this sexual double standard. This paradox is captured in Yuskavage’s work, "Importance of Association IV," with unflinching honesty. 

Born in 1962 in Philadelphia, Lisa Yuskavage received her BFA. from the Tyler School of Art, Temple University in 1984 and her MFA. from the Yale University School of Art in 1986. She lives and works in New York. 

Known Provenance
Purchased by Vicki and Kent Logan from The May Gallery/Vail Valley Arts Council, 1998; gifted to the Denver Art Museum, 2016
Exhibition History
  • “Disruption: Works from the Vicki and Kent Logan Collection” — Denver Art Museum, 1/13/2022

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