8.26 Feminist Art

Chicago - "Dinner Party" (late 20C)

Judy Chicago's most famous piece, "The Dinner Party," celebrates both women's history and such traditionally female crafts as stitching and china painting. Originally, the artist had planned for the work to be a feminist "Last Supper" with thirteen place-settings for thirteen great mythological and historical women (thirteen also would have represented the number of witches in a coven, which was significant to the artist for witchcraft is a religion based on the worship of a female deity and primarily practiced by women). Unable to trim the number of important women to just thirteen, Chicago expanded the "invitations" to 39 (three times thirteen). The place-settings, each with artwork appropriate to "guest's" culture, were then placed around a triangular table, which was 48 feet to a side (the triangle shape was also symbolic, being the ancient symbol for the female). The table was later mounted on a white floor base, known as the "Heritage Floor," on which the names of 999 other women of achievement were inscribed. Two women we have studied, Queen Hatshepsut (Lesson 2.14) and Georgia O'Keeffe (Lesson 8.07), were represented at the table while several others, such as Elisabeth Louise Vigee-Lebrun (Lesson 7.02) were recognized on the flooring. This piece has been critiqued, however, for its inclusion of only one African-American woman (Sojourner Truth) and for treating this setting differently. Still, it seems odd that the most famous work of such an important artist, still does not have a permanent museum home, and is still being omitted from official art history.

Feminist art

a coherent movement, dates from the late 1960s. It has been most prominent in the U.S., Britain, and Germany, although there are numerous precursors to the movement, and it has spread to many other cultures since the 1970s. Two of the founding and leading figures in the movement were Americans Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro. Artists have been particularly interested in what makes them different from males, and what makes art by women different from art by men. Feminists also point out that throughout most of recorded history males have imposed patriarchal (father-centered) social systems (in which they have dominated females). Although it is not the goal of this article to recount the development of feminist theory in general, the history of feminist art cannot be understood apart from it. The art notes that significant in our patriarchal heritage is the preponderance of art made by males, and for male audiences, sometimes transgressing against females. Men have maintained a studio system that has excluded women from training as artists, and a gallery system that has kept them from exhibiting and selling their work, albeit somewhat less recently than before. The art history must be considered as part of this subject. Its proponents have demanded that women's arts from all cultures, of all periods, be included in studies and exhibitions of art. Feminists have asked why there have not been more women artists, and what kept women artists from producing more and better work. Numerous histories of women artists were published in the 1970s, and some since. Before the late 1960s most women artists, struggling to participate in the male-dominated art world, had overwhelming disincentives to put feminist meanings into their work, and sought to de-gender their art. On the basis of appearance alone, their work could not be identified as woman-made. Some gender issues have been of interest to both male and female artists. Although the art has arisen from the concerns of artists of one gender, and some of those concerns are sexual in nature, more often than not feminist issues have been about women's power in arenas of which sexuality (reproductive acts and roles) is an important part.

femmages

coined by Miriam Schapiro, one of the founders of the Feminist art movement. These canvas-backed, sewn collages, made from highly patterned fabrics, ribbons and such, were an attempt to raise what was traditionally seen as "low" (and particularly feminine) art, to the level of high art. Schapiro is also noted for her strong references to female artists of the past, such as we see in our selection, "Conservatory." Here, we see a composition of acrylic paint and fabric on canvas in which the image and interests of Frida Kahlo are depicted. ["Conservatory" (late 20C) shown above]