In an essay from 1906, psychiatrist Ernst Jentsch came up with the term ‘Uncanny’, or onheimlichWhat does “disaster” or “not home -like” in German mean. He defined the psychological phenomenon as the experience of something new or unknown that could initially be interpreted negatively.
Austrian neurologist and founder of the Psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud made the word popular with the publication of his book The creepy In 1919, which was elaborated on the idea as not only the sensation of the unknown, but also something that is able to bring out other hidden or oppressed elements. He even went so far that he described the creepy as frightening.

In the 20th century, the surrealists often turned to the concept to build a feeling of mystery or tension in their works. Meret Oppenheim, for example, created a famous tea cup covered with fur, simply entitled “Object” (1936), generally considered an iconic example of the movement.
Oppenheim is one of the more than two dozen artists whose work will appear in the National Museum of Women in The Arts’s exhibition, CreepyWith recent acquisitions and rarely shown pieces in the NMWA collection, plus special loans.
More than 60 works of renowned figures of modern art history such as Louise Bourgeois, Remedios VARO and Leonora Carrington will be shown alongside contemporary artists such as Shahzia Sikander, Laurie Simmons and Gillian. The large -scale presentation is the first to approach the concept by a feminist lens, organizing works on themes of safety and surrealistic imagination.
The show also devotes the phenomenon of the ‘Uncanny Valley’, a term devised by robotics engineer Masahiro Mori in 1970 to describe the fear or discomfort that you feel when you are confronted with something that is almost human, but not entirely, like Videoga characters that seem realistic yet it still seems ‘out’.

In Laurie Simmons ‘The Music of Regret IV’ (1994) there is a female Ventriloquistian dummy in the middle of a circle of six male dummy dolls, whose looks were trained on her while she looked into the distance. The central character of Simmons is a medium that is used in the horror morning to introduce a feeling of creep or fear, the central character of Simmons is dramatic, her smile that hinders reality that it is disturbingly enclosed.
Along the theme of safety, or specifically unsafe spaces, the extensive staged photos of Fabiola Jean-Louis tell two stories at the same time. The artist portrays’ seemingly imperative portraits of narrow acquaintances with extensive period costumes that are typical of European from higher class, while disturbing images of racial and sexual violence are hidden in the background or details of a dress that the viewer reminds of the origin of Violence, “says an exhibition statement.
Many work in the show address physical trauma or the body’s relationship with the unknown. The photographic collages of Frida Oupabo, for example, portray black figures that evoke colonial history, criticize historical violence and injustice through a process of fragmenting, distorting and multiplying body parts.
The compositions of Orupabo reflect the surrealist cooperation practice of Cadavre ExquisOr excellent corpse, in which participants add to elements that others have pulled without seeing their work, producing intuitive and peculiar drawings.

“The enigmatic, dark humorous and psychologically tense artworks in Creepy Give the form to the powerful expressions of existential uneasures of female artists, “said NMWA -employee curator Orin Zahra, who organized the exhibition. She continues:
Instead of comforting and calming, these spooky and fantastic figures chase the unconscious. Instead of picturesque images, artists offer disturbing spaces that avoid the viewer. By concentrating on the ambiguity between reality and fiction, artists are exploring more and more faded lines between the artificial and creepy man.
Creepy Open 28 February and will take place until 10 August in Washington, DC, which painting, sculpture, photography, working on paper and video made between 1954 and 2022. More information and plan your visit to the museum website.







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