Jjenna Hupp Andrews
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      • Contemporary Artists as Stewardship
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      • Don't tell me what to do: Creative Careers Vol. 1
      • The Aesthetic Lens: Engaging Sociopolitical Injustice Through Art
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Social Justice Scholar in Residence: “Grotesque Bodies as Demands for Social Justice: Art of Late Apartheid and Post-Apartheid South Africa”, Featured Social Justice Speaker: Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Mid-Semester Residency, Union Institute & University – September 2015

Abstract: The grotesque body is the known body intertwined with the alien or the horrific. When confronted with the grotesque body, how one understands the world is challenged in that one is confronted with something so alien, so horrifying that it should not be; the grotesque body can challenge one’s sense of equilibrium and security in the world. The innate ambiguity of representations of grotesque bodies produces uncertainty, which encourages one to look to the larger setting and context for clues for how to interpret the figuration with which one is confronted. The context can, at times, provide meaning one seeks and thus allow for closure, but more often it can open up new questions and intensify the uncertainty, and possibly lead to stronger, more visceral reactions such as offence, horror, or even outrage. Such strong, visceral responses become opportunities to examine why representations of grotesque bodies affect one so deeply, and can lead to the examination of cultural assumptions and master narratives implicated in the figuration. I assert that spaces between overt meanings and covert assumptions of the grotesque figurations are where the visceral responses emerge and intertwine with conscious interpretations, providing fertile ground for deeper engagement with the sociocultural and political histories and contexts being addressed. Specifically, in this presentation, I will examine how grotesque figurations were utilized as an instrument for social justice by South African artists, both during apartheid rule and the transition to a post-apartheid democratic government.


  • Home
    • Contact
  • Artwork
    • Current Work >
      • Invisibility is a Superpower
    • Dad, Disappearing
    • Pieta, Gaia
    • Victory of St Wilgefortis, St of Non-Binary & Trans People
    • Creativity in the Time of Covid 19
    • Suffer the little children series >
      • Suffer the Little Children...
      • Suffer the little children, COVID-19 Portrait Series
      • Suffer the little children... War/Refugee Portrait Series
      • Postcards from the forgotten edge of forever
    • SAY HER/HIS/THEIR NAME
    • Selected Artwork
    • Exhibitions >
      • Forms and Figures - 2025
      • Muskegon Museum of Art’s 95th Michigan Contemporary Art Exhibition
      • SAC's Upcycle Art in the Park - 2025
      • BBAC Michigan Fine Arts Competition -2024
      • Fiber Art Now - Excellence In Fibers IX
      • Fiber Art Now - Fiber Reimagined II - 2024
      • Creativity in the Time of Covid-19
      • Of Revolutions, Revelations, Resolutions (and of those left forgotten in between)
      • Mott Art Faculty Exhibition -GFAC
      • The 19th Amendment at 100
      • STATUS 2019
      • Flint City Artists 2019
      • Flint: More than Just Water, and Exhibition
      • ArtPATH Lansing 2018
      • Lifeblood
      • Artists Treading Water
      • Nomadic Boarderlands
      • Second Skin
      • All They Survey
      • Liminal
      • Touching Life
      • intervals…interfaces…interstices
  • Teaching
    • Teaching Philosophy >
      • Teaching Philosophy Essay
    • Courses >
      • Course Descriptions
    • Student Artwork >
      • Drawing 1
      • Two-Dimensional Design
      • Three-Dimensional Design
      • Sculpture
      • In the Studio
    • Professional Development
  • Publications
    • Published Exhibitions
    • Books >
      • Flint Water Crisis
      • Lost In Media
      • Dissertation
    • Articles
    • Presentations >
      • Inclusive Language in the Remote Learning Environment
      • The Water Within LAND Conference 2-7-19
      • Facing College: Engaging International and Immigrant Students through a Collaborative Interdisciplinary Storytelling Project.
      • Seek & Find: Connections
      • Contemporary Artists as Stewardship
      • Act! Do Something
      • Wangechi Mutu
      • Ask me Why I'm RAD
      • Exploring ‘My Place(s) in this World’
      • Watching a Revolution
    • Speaking Engagements >
      • Featured Artist Talk - Creativity in the Time of Covid-19
      • Multiple Identities, Two Cultures, One Voice: The Art & Activism of Contemporary Afro-Latina & Afro-Latinx-Q Artists
      • Don't tell me what to do: Creative Careers Vol. 1
      • The Aesthetic Lens: Engaging Sociopolitical Injustice Through Art
      • Artists Treading Water
      • Social Justice Speaker in Residence
    • Press >
      • Student Project
      • Donor Mural
    • CV
  • Blog