For this task on discussing the mise-en-scene of works by Female Artists and the context surrounding them, I chose the ‘Hot-en-tot Venus’ 1994 photograph by Renée Cox depicting her own body as a model to promote “self-love” (Hooks, B. ‘Sisters of the Yam’ -1993). This image represents the ideal body image for black females to try and achieve in order to look attractive. The obvious, faux plastic breasts and buttocks help to communicate the argument that idealised, societal beauty cannot be achieved without falseness.

The monochrome finish allows the portrait to suggest a racial interpretation of the artwork, focusing politically on the duality of life (i.e. Black/White, Female/Male, Gay/Straight). Through  breaking the element of the fourth wall, the audience is addressed directly as though communicating the message of society taking action to break down the existing attitudes.

Cox, as a black Jamaican-American artist, brings her political activism into her artwork in order to provoke action in the subjects of Feminism, Gender, Race, and Culture. Therefore, using her art as a platform to promote change and protest within society, Cox pushes the boundaries of what the art can truly be defined as. Questioning whether the image itself is in fact the art, the message it conveys, or the performance of activism encouraged by the piece.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renee_Cox