Artist Hannah Cooke is breastfeeding her daughter Ada in different exhibition-like settings to confront negative statements about the compatibility of motherhood and art made by Abramović and Emin.
Ada vs. Abramović
Ada vs. Emin
7th of March 2020
5pm – 10pm
QUOTES
Tagesspiegel Nov. 2016:
“Did you never wanted to have children?”
Marina Abramović:
“No. Never. I aborted three times because I was convinced that it would be a disaster for my work.
We just have a certain amount of energy in our body that I should have shared. In my opinion, that’s why women are not as successful in the art world as men. There are lots of talented women. Why do the men take over the important positions? Quite simply: love, family, children – all a woman does not want to sacrifice.”
Tracey Emin:
“I don’t think I’d be making work (if I were a mother).’ She admits. ‘I would have been either 100% mother or 100% artist. I’m not flaky and I don’t compromise. Having children and being a mother… It would be a compromise to be an artist at the same time. I know some women can. But that’s not the kind of artist I aspire to be. There are good artists that have children. Of course there are. They are called men. It’s hard for women. It’s really difficult, they are emotionally torn. It’s hard enough for me with my cat.”
ABOUT THE ARTIST
In a humorous manner Cooke questions well-established power structures and reveals the characteristics of the art world.
Her work is research-based, the outcome spans from photography, video, performative and installation elements. hannahcooke.de
ABOUT ato.black
ato.black is an online art gallery and exhibition platform. Through their online portal they aim to stimulate debates and knowledge exchange between diverse disciplines and specialised fields. Any contributor from the worlds of art and curation, philosophy and the humanities is part the curation of the content. ato.black