Cintura di castità / Chastity belt, 1976

Clemen Parrocchetti, Cintura di castità / Chastity belt, 1976; Mixed media; 50 × 70 cm / framed: 54.6 × 74.4 cm

In this mixed media work on paper, Italian feminist artist Clemen Parrocchetti repeats volvas within a geometric band that crosses the page. Titled Cintura di castità / Chastity belt (1976) the work speaks on the forceful measures taken throughout history to restrict women to patriarchal standards, especially around fidelity and virginity. In the center of the page is a vagina pierced with thread, an image which is part of Clemen’s visual grammar at the time. The work also contains mains upside down triangles, referencing the womb and genitalia. For Parrocchetti, the vulva is also a strong motif to express where patriarchal violence concentrates itself within the female body, and from where women’s protest unleashes.