Project Statement

by J. Drucker

A book about the author's struggle with her gynecologist, this elegantly designed, small-format work makes striking use of paper, ink, old medical illustrations, and layout choices to reinforce the themes of the text. The book is a model of ways to use these design elements without having them appear to be arbitrary or gratuitous, and to maximixe the contrast between ink and paper for aesthetic effect. The basic project here, to register a criticism of the patriarchal character of the medical profession, is expressed in a material form that gives authority back to the author and her voice, even as it registers the constraints to which that authority is subject. As a work about subjectivity and in particular, female subjectivity as positionality within systems of control, it is highly articulate in its graphical forms and expression.

The Gynecologist

Joan Lyons

title note: The title asserts the gynecologist as the central figure in the book, a move that mirrors the book's theme of male gynecologists commandeering, misrepresenting, and effacing women's bodies. [E. Rettberg]

Agents

Joan Lyons

type: initiating

role:
artist
designer
author

nationality:
active: United States

Visual Studies Workshop Press

type: other

role:
publisher

location: Rochester, NY

Publication Information

publisher: Visual Studies Workshop Press

dates:
publication: 1989-11-00

Aesthetic Profile

movement:
feminism (AAT)

subject:
political art (AAT)
artists' books (LCSH)

themes: gynecology, patriarchy, medicine, medical history, historical malpractice [E. Rettberg]

content form:
narrative (local)

publication tradition:
illustrated book (local)

community: workshop Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, NY [E. Rettberg]

community: press Visual Studies Workshop Press [E. Rettberg]