MARY ELLEN CROTEAU — MONOPRINTS 1989

These monoprints are part of a series of works intended to debunk the myth of greatness and expose the patriarchal assumptions implicit in viewing “great art.” For example, Balthus is honored as one of the great figurative painters of the twentieth century. Yet most of his images are of pubescent girls shown nude and/or splayed out in suggestive poses. They are quite clearly pedophilic pornography, yet they hang in every major U.S. museum. Who are the people who confer greatness on such paintings? What are women supposed to think when viewing these images?

Mary Ellen reversed the genders in these prints, exposing and subverting their underlying message.