[Post 7] - The Atypical Human Form in Art
- Dani Romero
- Jan 14
- 2 min read
"Disability is a subjective, corporeal, and complex sociocultural construction. Looking at disabled bodies in art history offers significant insight into the various ways in which art can support or subvert the construction and performance of normative values. Recognizing the ways in which art performs disability ultimately challenges one-dimensional understandings of disability and art."
Keri Watson, in her article for Art History Teaching Resources, presents a thorough investigation of bodily deformities as depicted in art throughout history, particularly dissecting religious art and the 'healing' of these supposedly unfortunate curses, and contrasting them to the more contemporary celebration of bodily differences and how it really doesn't change very much at all about the person bearing them and how they might compare to a typical human form.
I think we've all seen our fill of artworks that exploit people who appear different as tools of fear, satire, or indoctrination. Here, we can take a look instead at creators who embrace the complete and beautiful experience of their models, using their unique features to tell a story that could be anyone's, given they were born in a different place and time. Let's celebrate individuality and how, as special as we all are, we ultimately are one in the same in so many ways.
Recommended Reading:
Special Books by Special Kids - Interviews with young people across the world to celebrate their unique conditions and personalities.
Changing Faces - UK-Based charity organization with a focus on the acceptance of visible difference and disfigurement.
Chicago Tribune's Artist Spotlight on Riva Lehrer - Artist Riva Lehrer paints portraits of people with disabilities — minus the mock heroics, the ‘freak show’ or the toxic staring.
Accessibility Checker - Empowering creativity; 10 artists with disabilities
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