Does a female pinup artist bring
something new to the world of pinups?
I’ve already analyzed
two pinup works of the most outstanding
pinup artists [1,2],
now it’s time to explore one of the most
outstanding female pinup artist, Zoë
Mozert. Mozert’s 1948 piece, “Bubbles”,
shows off the artist’s undeniable
craftswomanship, but does it take a
different approach to pinup art?
Line, Blot, Shape, Texture and
Pattern
Without a doubt this is one of
the softest pinups you’ll ever encounter.
Starting with the basics, as always, we take
a look at the most elementary components of
the image. Aside from the plaid pattern on
the hair-bow (which I’ll get back to later),
there’s no real use of lines in Mozert’s
painting. As we learned from other pinups
I’ve analyzed, it is typical, in pinup art,
to try and mimic reality. For this reason,
suggestive lines are employed- or rather, the
meeting of two color surfaces, creates the
illusion of a line. Thus, in essence, what
you get is a use of color blots that create
shapes. Also- typical of pinup art- the blots
are smoothed out, in order to create a “soft
surface” and soft shapes, so much so, that at
times the shapes fuse into each other:
As classic pinup art leans to a certain
gender characterization, the works usually
have a “soft” feel to them. “Bubbles” is
especially soft. There are no blunt edges or
extremely smooth surfaces. The general
texture is fuzzy and soft, the shapes are all
rounded, wether it’s the foamy background,
the young woman’s limbs, or the circular
bubbles.
Representation of Space
Despite
striving for a realistic depiction, Mozert
keeps us in the realm of fantasy. We can
label this a conceptual representation of
space. There’s no point in the picture, where
we can measure any perspective. Nevertheless,
there’s a use of optical techniques to create
a suficient feeling of reality:
- We can tell a slight amount of
“foreground” from “background”, when the
foam and bubbles are either covering the
young woman, or the young woman covers he
foam and bubbles. This gives the impression
of what is nearer to us, and what is
further away.
- Another optical trick, giving us a
sense of space is the young woman’s size
and location in relation to the frame. She
takes up the majority of the image, giving
us a sense of nearness. Another factor that
contributes to the illusion of close
vicinity is the small space between her and
the bottom portion of the frame. The fact
that her toes are cut at the right side,
indicates to the casual viewer that he/she
are touching her toes.
Another interesting aspect of
representation of space in “Bubbles” is the
viewer’s point of view. Even though there are
no tangible points of perspective, it is
quite obvious that the viewer is looking at
the young woman from a lower angle, as
under-parts of her body are visible to us,
such as the jaw under her chin. There is much
to say about viewer’s POV, and the
psychological effects of looking at something
from below. Many feelings can arise, such as
fear and diminution. I think it’s safe to say
that in this case, combined with other
aforementioned aspects of the painting, it
creates more of a soft adoration.
Color
I’ve already used the word
soft about three billion times, in
this post. If the lines and blots and
textures are soft, in order to create a
supple, “feminine” feel to the image, it’s
only logical that the colors would follow.
The dominating color is peach, and while
accompanied by a soft yellow (hair), a light
blue (bubbles, foam and soap dish) and a
coral pink (exposed ground), peach works in
this painting as an overlay. Of course the
colors are meant to mimic reality, but the
choices made, are undoubtedly deliberately
(there it is again) soft.
Composition
“Bubbles” is a simple
centered composition. There aren’t too
many elements in the image and whatever
is important, is straight in front of
your eyes. Usually I’d give the artist
the benefit of the doubt that what they
meant is on the canvas, but the slight
deviation from the center (rectified by
more bubbles on the the left side of the
painting), including the even slighter
cutting of the toes, leads me to suspect
that it was a bit of an accident.
Continuing that patterned softness, the
imaginary, suggestive lines of the body and
bubbles create yet another element of
softness. The only line breaking this
softness, is the stick of the pipe, which
serves to point even more attention to the
dark red lips (more gender theory in the
Iconology & Iconography section).
Iconology & Iconography
Up until
this point, it all seemed simple enough.
There’s something extraordinarily straight
forward about “Bubbles‘, even though it’s not
“in your face” at all. As a rule, Mozert was
never “in your face”. Her depiction of women
is highly gentle and stereotypically
feminine. However, Mozert is a subtle artist
and each element in this simple painting
serves a purpose.
As you’ve probably noticed, every time I
refereed to the character in the image, I’ve
always called her “young woman”. I think it’s
fair to say that that is what she clearly is.
However, it may be asked if she’s 16, or 22?
While her hair may indicate 16 (noting the
aforementioned red and white plaid patterned
bow, typical of a girl), her make up may
point you in a more mature direction (her
facial features could even be younger). Her
body is well-developed, but very slim. And
while her body language is that of
disciplined temptress, her activity is that
of a carefree child.
Two elements draw special attention:
- The soap dish- It could have be a
simple round bowl, but Mozert chose a
specific shape, that while looking at the
dish at eye level (which we are), it looks
like a shell. The white shell goes a long
way back in art history, it’s a symbol of
Maria (purity) and venus (fertility and
femininity).
The pipe- Even though Mozert softened the
pipe, giving it a creamy color, it is the
one obstruction to the soft composition. As
we learned in the Composition section, its
porpose is to accentuate the young woman’s
lips. Dare I speculate that the pipe is a
symbol of masculinity, in this picture?
What do you think?
Though it’s hard for me to reach a
straight forward conclusion about the meaning
of Zoë Mozert’s “Bubbles”, I think the
process revealed many details. Is this a
coming of age piece? A statement about gender
expectations? A simple pedophiliac fantasy?
All of the above?
Exploring the complexities of pinup art,
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Tags: A Woman’s Perspective,
Zoë Mozert, Bubbles, feminine, women, young woman, gender expectations, coming of age, Iconology & Iconography,
female pinup artist, soft, textures, point of view, fantasy, POV, realistic depiction, Color, Representation of Space,
pinup art, craftswomanship, 1948, 1940’s, world of pinups
