Margaret Harrison

Margaret Harrison

Margaret Harrison is a feminist, and also self-proclaimed ‘radical artist’. Her work address issues surrounding feminism and usually takes on a humorous note. She was one of the founding members of the London Women’s Liberation Art Group. Her work has received recognition from a variety of fronts, including the police. In 1971 the police shut down her exhibition due to her representation of men. This was fatally her first solo show. “It was censored and locked down after the opening for indecency because Margaret feminized the bodies of well-known figures, including Hugh Hefner” (Sanchez quoted in Battaglia). This image that Sanchez talks about is entitled, This is only a bunny but he is quite nice really (see fig. 1). It caused a stir as Harrison had drawn Hugh Hefner as a playboy bunny. It is this type of humorous approach that marks Harrisons work. It is a good take on exactly what Hefner has created. It also allows the viewer to think about issues for women surrounding this. 

Another image of Harrisons which looks at how women are objectified is called Good Enough to Eat (see fig. 2). The image shows a women laying in a sandwich. It addresses how women are viewed and are objectified. But also how people view women as an object, how an image of women are ‘eaten up’. It is a clever way to highlight this issue. By contrasting the female figure with a sandwich, it shows how easily people devour both as objects and also as something pleasurable. 

I like Harrisons images as they are humorous but raise and tackle important issues. These drawings show a different method of looking at feminism.  

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Figures  

Fig. 1. Harrison, M (1971) This is only a bunny boy but he is quite nice really [Photograph – Online]. At: www.artnews.com/2019/03/06/bunny-business-margaret-harrison-sends-up-playboy-hugh-hefner-at-the-armory-show/ (Accessed on 7th of November 2019). 

Fig. 2. Harrison, M (1971) Good Enough to Eat [Drawing – Online]. At: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/harrison-good-enough-to-eat-p06246(Accessed on 7th of November 2019).  

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Bibliography  

Battaglia, A (2019) Bunny Business: Margaret Harrison sends up playboy Hugh Hefner at the Armory Show. At: www.artnews.com/2019/03/06/bunny-business-margaret-harrison-sends-up-playboy-hugh-hefner-at-the-armory-show/ (Accessed on 7th of November 2019).   

Harrison, M. Biography. At: margaret-harrison.com/?page_id=11 (Accessed on 7th of November 2019).  

Harrison, M. Home. At: margaret-harrison.com (Accessed on 7th of November 2019).