Deborah de Robertis
Bridging the gap between performance art and activism is Deborah de Robertis. Her work draws attention to power dynamics, challenges social norms, and pokes holes in the conventions of the art world.
Her “Body” of Work
I’m proud of that pun and you’ll see why soon.
de Robertis first caught the international media’s attention when she executed her work titled Mirror of Origin. This was a performance in which she sat down in front of Gustave Courbet’s iconic painting L’Origine du Monde and exposed her genitals, mirroring the painting. “Spontaneous applause breaks out during the impromptu show which ended with de Robertis eventually being escorted away by police” (Nelson, 2014). The Musee d’Orsay issued a statement saying they never allowed her to do this performance and wouldn’t have approved it since it would be disturbing to their guests. A post on de Robertis’ social media sums up her intent with this piece and her desire to disrupt common constructs in galleries; “When we look at a picture of a naked female, we’re in a safe place, we’re voyeurs and often happy that our gaze is not being returned. Once the portrayal comes to life, however, we’re dealing with a hell of a lot more. We become awkward, embarrassed and nervous, stripped of the confidence we boasted when we were merely peeping. What is de Robertis saying about the way society looks at women?” (Nelson, 2014).
Two years later, in 2016, she performed at the Musee d’Orsay again, this time posing nude in front of Edouard Manet’s Olympia. de Robertis was wearing a portable camera in order to capture her audience’s responses to the performance, she was also wearing a wig that looked like Olympia’s hair and a necklace and flowers that mimicked the ones in the painting. “The idea was definitely not to imitate the painting identically but rather to reverse the power relations in the painting and within the institution” (Surtees, 2016). Following this performance, the museum officials called the police again and she spent 2 days in prison for public indecency. “In an ideal scenario, the guards would protect my naked body like they protect the painting. The role of the guards and the museum authorities is to protect artists and militants who use their bodies to bring the art to life, not to stop them” (Surtees, 2016).
Then in May, 2024, de Robertis organized a protest at the Centre Pompidou-Metz where five artworks were spraypainted with the words #metoo. This performance was titled You Don’t Separate The Woman From The Artist. Included in the five works targeted were Courbet’s L’Origine du Monde and an embroidered work by Annette Messager. Following this, she was charged with causing deliberate damage to cultural assets, she wasn’t placed in jail but she was closely monitored by the authorities and she was banned from appearing at any art exhibits.
So What Does It All Mean?
“By defacing iconic artworks and removing exhibition pieces, de Robertis has forced the world to grapple with questions about the limits of art, the morality of protest, and the accountability of cultural institutions. Her actions demand reflection, not only on the state of the art world but on the broader dynamics of power, exploitation, and change” (La Vela, 2024). She uses her body and forces viewers of her performances to confront and think about the established norms and institutions surrounding art. Her work is meant to make you uncomfortable, but not offended. “My performance is intended to be inoffensive. I wouldn’t say that it is an attack on galleries but it is certainly a direct confrontation” (La Vela, 2024).
So what do you think? Does she take it too far? Or not far enough?
Works Cited
“France Charges Artist Over MeToo Graffiti on Notorious Painting”. 2024. France 24. https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240603-france-charges-artist-over-metoo-graffiti-on-notorious-painting
La Vela, Antonio. “Deborah de Robertis: Art’s Greatest Scandal or Boldest Statement?” 2024. Antonio La Vela Art Blog. https://www.antoninolavela.it/2024/12/deborah-de-robertis-arts-greatest.html?source=post_page-----4d149340983e---------------------------------------
Nelson, Sara C. “Vaginas in Art are Ok but Not In Real Life Finds Deborah de Robertis”. 2014. Huffington Post UK. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/06/11/vaginas-art-deborah-de-robertis-nsfw-video_n_5483497.html
Surtees, Joshua. “Nude Performance Artist Deborah de Robertis on Scandalizing the Art World”. 2016. Vice. https://www.vice.com/en/article/nude-performance-artist-deborah-de-robertis-on-scandalizing-the-art-world/