219:, a pig farmer from Manitoba commented: "I call it a jerky dress. There are a lot of people who hold food sacred in this land, and they are appalled by the use of food for this thing." In response, one newspaper editorial called him a "meat head". Holtmann was chair of the House of Commons Communications and Culture Committee, which oversees the NGC funding; the committee itself was split on the issue. The artist called Holtmann a "self-proclaimed Philistine not even successful as a hog farmer." Art critic
249:, printed a cartoon featuring "a curvy, spaghetti-strapped slip" made of the same materials as the meat dress. The editorial cartoon suggested readers cut out the image, smear it with foodstuffs, and mail it to Nemiroff; her address was included with the image. The mailroom opened mail with gloves for weeks after the cartoon; one was covered in feces. A sexually-threatening letter was sent to the NGC communications officer, who had been quoted in articles about the work. The writer for
68:
appearance. On a nearby wall, a photograph of a young woman poses in the dress. The dress is stitched together from 50–60 pounds of raw flank steak and must be constructed anew each time it is shown. Initially, the steak is fresh and fiery red, and then it gradually turned beige and brown, changing its shape and size to conform to the dummy's hourglass shape. The work included either $ 260 or $ 300 worth of meat, as of its 1991 showing.
270:
misplaced." She noted that other exhibits have used grains, breads, and potatoes were used as part of previous exhibits, but the flesh was likely source of the controversy. Said
Nemiroff: "It's kind of double cross because clothing is supposed to be second skin and cover us up. And this one reverses the process and reveals what we don't want to confront: our mortality."
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Ottawa alderman Mark
Maloney called health inspectors, who found that there the work presented no health hazards. Inspected on 1 April, Dr. Edward Ellis of the Ottawa-Carlton Health Department issued a statement that the dress presented "no health hazard to the public at this time", so long as no one
155:
When the meat was shriveling, flaking, and falling off, one anonymous donor gave the gallery $ 260 for replacement meat. (This number was of some debate, with $ 350 worth of meat listed in one vegetarian magazine.) Because of the negative publicity the work had received, gallery staff pretended to be
294:
writer Ann Wilson Lloyd noted in 1998 that
Sterbak's work "has inspired reams of humorless, abstruse theoretical writing that leaves none of her layered metaphors unturned. Yet Ms. Sterbak's work – seductive, intensely physical and edged with dark absurdity – delivers a mind-body frisson
147:
At age 36, Sterbak was given a retrospective show at the
National Gallery of Canada called "States of Being", reviewing the past decade of her works. Scheduled from 8 March to 21 May 1991, the exhibit included works like "Cone on Hand" (1979). The exhibit was relatively well-attended, compared to
269:
Contemporary
Canadian art curator Diana Nemiroff suggested the controversy was largely due to the work being taken out of the larger context of the show. "There's no doubt that the dress is a provocative object and it's meant to be a provocative object, but the cry that it's a waste of food is
170:
in London, for the exhibition "Rites of
Passage". When the small retrospective of her work was taken to Antoni TĂ pies Foundation in Barcelona, the show was "edited down to an arid minimum" by the artist herself, which included editing out the dress. In 2011, the work was presented at "Tous
67:
The artwork consists of a "Flesh Dress", constructed of slabs of beef sewn together, hung on a tailor's dummy. It is a one-piece, sleeveless, calf-length "house dress", with a jagged edge. The marble texture of steak and the thick fat are fully visible, displaying its expressive and bloody
253:
suggested reaction would have been different if the genders of the artist and curator were different, that the work would have likely been deemed sexist, for starters. In all, 200 people mailed food scraps to the
National Gallery of Canada within a week.
259:"If this had happened in the United States, it would have been great for me. By contrast my own little controversy is a sort of Canadian remake...The worst thing an artist is afraid of is indifference, so I haven't experienced that."
54:
sewn together, and hung on a hanger. According to the artist, the work is a contrast between vanity and bodily decomposition. The artwork is in the collections of Walker Art Center in
Minneapolis and of
223:
commented that the committee's concept "was based on the notion that the
National Gallery is somehow accountable for poverty and hunger in Canada. Surely the irony of their desperate position is that
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75:", a category of art showing death and decay. The work includes non-traditional materials, a trend in 20th-century art. It "stands in the Surrealist tradition of the uncanny, of the
208:(1967), less than a year before. The show drew criticism from Members of Parliament, and the organizers of food banks and soup kitchens. It was considered an insult, given the
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touches or eats it. The inspector also suggested the dress was out of their jurisdiction, being on a federal property; the department asked
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There were some earlier instances of meat being used as clothing in art. Seafood outfits, including a lobster bikini, were featured at
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called the work "disturbing," but justified in doing so, noting the "work should be seen – and experienced."
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was referenced; a 1996 work by
Sterbak portrayed her as a moth, eating up the clothes in his closet.
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in 1987. The exhibit received "scant" attention. The dress also appeared at Regina, Saskatchewan's
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819:"Jana Sterbak Making of Vanitas Flesh Dress for an Albino Anorectic at la Maison Rouge in Paris"
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in Ottawa, where it attracted national controversy. The work was composed of 50 pounds of raw
163:, in Minnesota. It was reconstructed by a small team in 2011, for the show "Midnight Party".
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Hume, Christopher (7 April 1991). "Right and left scoring points at arts' expense".
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In 1993, the T. B. Walker Acquisition Fund purchased a copy of the work for the
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caterers when finding a butcher in the Ottawa area to provide replacement meat.
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other shows, due in part to the controversy, and was discussed in the catalog
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106:. The clothes are mostly bacon, with a sausage necklace. In 2010, singer
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are members of the group that created the mess the country is now in."
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As suggested by the title, the work is considered within the genre of "
838:
Making of "Vanitas: Flesh Dress for an Albino Anorectic", Jana Sterbak
880:"Artist looks at clothing: Are we wearing it, or is it wearing us?"
79:, disturbing the distinctions, by which we categorize experience".
138:
20:
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in 1989, with the curator remembering minimal negative reaction.
102:, showed a female model wearing cuts of meat held in place with
760:"Construction of Vanitas: Flesh Dress for an Albino Anorectic"
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The work was one in a series of controversies surrounding the
445:"Lady Gaga's Fleshy Outfit Echoes Artistic Lobsters, Maggots"
703:. Oak Park IL: Active Interest Media, Inc.: 75 August 1991.
681:. Toronto ON. Canadian Press. 10 April 1991. p. B01.
560:. Toronto ON: University of Toronto Press. p. 109.
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in the 1980s and 1990s, including the acquisition of
491:"Lady Gaga's meat dress angers animal rights groups"
736:. Minneapolis MN: Walker Art Centre. Archived from
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Jana Sterbak : states of being = corps Ă corps
554:Bruce Barber; Serge Guilbaut; John O'Brian (1996).
122:Montreal gallery Galerie René Blouin exhibited the
907:"An Absurdist Who Savors the Poetry of Technology"
786:
640:""Jana Sterbak: States of Being" advertisement".
356:"'Flesh dress' is rotten art, some Canadians say"
524:Valentine Low; Laura Pitel (14 September 2010).
286:In various critical reviews, the work of German
42:, first displayed at the Galerie René Blouin in
38:(1987) is an artwork created by Canadian artist
557:Voices of fire: art, rage, power, and the state
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730:"Vanitas: Flesh Dress for an Albino Anorectic"
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412:. Toronto ON: Canadian Art Foundation: 71–72.
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844:(Short film). Lighthouse Films. 18 April 2011
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150:Jana Sterbak: States of Being = corps Ă corps
29:, which accompanied the display of the dress.
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938:Vanitas: Flesh Dress for an Albino Anorectic
472:"Lady Gaga's meat dress link to the Beatles"
175:and in 2010 at Elles@Centre Pompidou, Paris
35:Vanitas: Flesh Dress for an Albino Anorectic
27:Vanitas: Flesh Dress for an Albino Anorectic
867:. Toronto ON. Canadian Press. 3 April 1991.
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766:. Minneapolis MN: Facebook. 16 March 2011
677:"Controversial meat dress off the hook".
362:. Spokane WA. Chicago Tribune. p. 16
489:Topping, Alexandra (13 September 2010).
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59:in Paris (edition of 2 + artist copy).
595:. Regina SK. 6 April 1991. p. B20
526:"Lady Gaga's outfit raises the steaks"
143:Cover of the National Gallery catalog.
443:Gayford, Martin (16 September 2010).
46:. Its most famous showing was at the
7:
905:Lloyd, Ann Wilson (4 October 1998).
166:The work was later exhibited at the
863:"Flesh dress not a health threat".
799:from the original on 11 August 2022
589:"Flesh dress was in gallery before"
470:Bloxham, Andy (15 September 2010).
98:' November 1983 compilation album,
788:"Dedicated manipulator of fashion"
785:Searle, Adrian (23 January 1996).
110:attended an awards show wearing a
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878:Hackett, Regina (1 August 2002).
615:"Art that is absolutely shocking"
295:unknowable by intellect alone."
177:Jana Sterbak / Couture sanglante
764:Walker Art Center Facebook page
114:similar to Sterbak's in style.
16:Artwork created by Jana Sterbak
1:
406:"The Flesh Dress: A Defence"
215:Progressive Conservative MP
935:Google Images: results for
644:. Toronto ON. 5 March 1991.
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884:Seattle Post-Intelligencer
621:. Regina SK. 30 March 1989
388:. Toronto ON. p. C02.
305:List of individual dresses
243:and its sister paper, the
196:National Gallery of Canada
48:National Gallery of Canada
666:– via Worldcat.org.
233:Health and Welfare Canada
276:The Silence of the Lambs
501:Guardian News and Media
310:Meat dress of Lady Gaga
981:Installation art works
966:Clothing controversies
449:Bloomberg Businessweek
404:Milroy, Sarah (1991).
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823:light house films.com
210:early 1990s recession
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128:Mackenzie Art Gallery
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740:on 21 December 2010
476:The Daily Telegraph
182:17 May 2012 at the
976:Individual dresses
961:1991 controversies
911:The New York Times
865:The Globe and Mail
693:"Carrot and stick"
642:The Globe and Mail
532:. Surry Hills, NSW
360:The Spokane-Review
354:Rowley, Storer H.
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133:Regina Leader-Post
88:The Dream of Venus
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971:Art controversies
842:(Streaming video)
161:Walker Art Center
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991:Red dresses
734:Collections
625:31 December
599:31 December
190:Controversy
168:Tate Modern
124:Flesh Dress
63:Description
950:Categories
499:. London:
316:References
283:magazine.
246:Ottawa Sun
118:Exhibition
112:meat dress
848:12 August
770:12 August
744:12 August
709:0164-8497
536:11 August
478:. London.
455:11 August
108:Lady Gaga
917:7 August
890:7 August
803:6 August
797:Archived
714:6 August
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425:6 August
366:6 August
299:See also
180:Archived
44:Montreal
825:. 2011.
77:informe
73:vanitas
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506:14 May
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986:Steak
919:2011
892:2011
850:2011
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716:2011
705:ISSN
660:OCLC
627:2022
601:2022
575:2011
562:ISBN
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