Abject:

a complex psychological, philosophical, and linguistic concept developed in Julia Kristeva's 1980 book Powers of Horror involving elements of the body that transgress and threaten our sense of cleanliness and propriety, and deemed inappropriate for public display or discussion. The term abject has a strong feminist context because artists are abjected by a patriarchal social order.

Julia Kristeva discusses the abject in terms of psychoanalysis. She mentions that some of the strongest loathings are that of food and of the corpse.

Andres Serrano

Piss Christ, 1987, is a photograph of a crucifix submerged in the artist's urine. The work incited quite an uproar- It's been called a deplorable, despicable display of vulgarity and has been torn down and banned. His use of the word "piss" instead of "urine" signifies anger and insult. It addresses what some viewers consider a foul excretion of the mortal body. 

Dash Snow

Snow's photos depict scenes of a sex, drug-taking, violent, art-world pretense with candor documenting the decadent lifestyle of a group of young New York City artists in the 2000s. His collage-based work was characterized by his semen splashed across photos of authority figures and newspaper articles. If his photos don't address the abject, his titles would- they imply incest, cannibalism, and rape.

Carolee Schneemann

Schneemann's works involve the undisguised presentation of female dreams, female body functions, and female genitalia. The stigmas that surround her work uncover the patriarchal credos that continue to influence the behavior of women as well as men. In particular, her use of menstrual blood as a medium of expression dramatizes deeply engrained cultural taboos. Blood Work Diary, 1971, consists of menstrual blood blotted on toilet paper arranged in a grid pattern on a wall. 

Libby Rowe

Rowe addresses the taboo topic of female masturbation in Language of Love, 2007, which features photographs of the hand positions of women. Her body of work encourages reconstruction of accepted social definitions of feminity and equality. 

Adrien Piper

Piper's street performances under the collective title Catalysis address ostracism and otherness through means of the abject. She stuffed a white towel in her mouth and rode on public transportation systems and doused herself with a mixture of vinegar, eggs, milk and cod liver oil and rode the New York City subways. They challenged the order of the social field at the level of distinction between public and private acts.