Proposal for a public monument is inspired by Memorial to a vanquished peasant (1525) by Albrecht Dürer. Historically, the memorial depicts the heroic man – stereotypically sculpted male bodies that we know through our parks and squares – athletic and ideal. In her proposal for a public monument, Lise Skou provides a counterpoint to this, portraying a struggling, working mother. Rather than using classical elements, Skou uses ordinary household objects such as a floor mop, and other objects also associated with feminised labour and lower paid jobs. Skou is interested in exploring the value of care and what we regard as valuable and worthy of tribute.
Proposal for a public monument (v. 2) (2021) is a limited edition silkscreen print on coloured watercolour paper by Lise Skou, created on the occasion of the Feminist Supermarket at Ormston House. The print first appeared in The Emergence of a Manifesto for the Art Worker, the Defeated and the Silent (ISBN 978-1-9999513-6-8 ) published by Ormston House in 2020. Lise Skou is a Danish artist based in Aarhus, Denmark. She holds a BA in History of Art and Nordic Literature from University of Aarhus, and an MFA from Funen Academy of Fine Arts, Denmark. From 2002-2003, she attended the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program. You can find out more about her work at www.liseskou.com.
