Lauren Jimerson Speaks at 108th CAA Conference in Chicago

On February 12, PICT visiting faculty member Lauren Jimerson spoke at the 108th CAA Annual Conference in Chicago. Lauren’s paper, entitled “Subversive Selves: Women Artists’ Nude Self-Portraits,” focused on the work of the French artist Émilie Charmy (1878-1974).

A largely overlooked artist, Émilie Charmy devoted much of her career to a subject that few artists had dared to explore—the nude self-portrait. Only subtly recognizable as self-portraits, Charmy’s nudes collapse the long-established division between artist and model, subject and object. Moreover, through what Lauren calls an “aesthetics of female jouissance,” Charmy’s self-portraits reveal female pleasure and autoeroticism. In conclusion, Lauren maintained that Charmy’s work asserts her agency as well as a liberated, sexually conscious self, offering pioneering examples of modern body imagery.

The College Art Association of America (CAA) is the principal US academic organization devoted to the visual arts.