1. The
Feminist
Art
Movement
in
the
1970s
Art
109A:
Art
Since
1940
Westchester
Community
College
Fall
2012
Dr.
Melissa
Hall

2. Feminist
Art
Movement
Feminist
movement
grew
out
of
the
acEvist
movements
of
the
1960s
BeNy
Friedan
leading
a
group
of
demonstrators
outside
a
Congressional
office
in
1971
to
show
support
for
the
E.R.A
Lucy
Lippard
protesEng
in
front
of
the
Whitney
Museum
of
Art,
demanding
a
50%
representaEon
of
women
and
nonwhite
arEsts
in
the
Whitney
Annual.
1970.

3. hNp://www.theslideprojector.com/art6/art6twodaylectures/art6lecture26.html

4. Feminist
Art
Movement
Goals
1. Reclaim
women’s
rights
as
arEst
(woman
as
subject
of
representaEon)
2. Challenge
stereotypical
representaEon
of
women
in
art
(woman
as
object
of
representaEon)
3. Recover
women’s
“herstory”
4. Reaffirm
feminine
cra[
tradiEons
denigrated
by
the
dominant
patriarchal
culture
Mary
Beth
Edelson,
Some
Living
American
Women
Ar0sts
/
Last
Supper,
1971

5. Reclaiming
the
Role
of
Ar6sts
Challenging
the
historical
gender
roles:
 Male
–
acEve
“subject”
 Woman
-­‐
passive
“object”
Brassaï,
Henri
MaEsse
and
Model,
1939
Artnet

6. Sylvia
Sleigh
Role
reversal
–
reclaiming
acEve
role
of
arEst
Diego
Velasquez,
Rokeby
Venus,
Sylvia
Sleigh,
Philip
Golub
Reclining,
1971

7. Sylvia
Sleigh,
Turkish
Bath,
1973
Jean
Auguste
Dominique
Ingres,
Turkish
Bath,
1862
Louvre

8. Alice
Neel
FiguraEve
painter
working
on
the
fringes
since
the
1940s
Alfred
Eisenstaedt,
Alice
Neel,
1979
LIFE

9. Alice
Neel
Portraits
of
family,
friends,
and
art
world
luminaries
Alice
Neel,
Andy
Warhol,
1970
Alice
Neel,
Linda
Nochlin
and
Daisy,
1973

10. Alice
Neel,
John
Perreault,
1972
Whitney
Museum

11. Alice
Neel
Shockingly
un-­‐romanEcized
images
of
pregnant
women
Alice
Neel,
The
Pregnant
Woman,
1971
Alice
Neel,
Margaret
Evans
Pregnant,
1978

12. Alice
Neel
Defiantly
challenged
expectaEons
about
the
role
of
the
arEst
Alice
Neel,
Self
Portrait,
1980

13. Lynda
Benglis
Lynda
Benglis
quesEoned
the
possibility
of
simple
“role
reversal”
Lynda
Benglis,
ArLorum,
1974

14. Lynda
Benglis
Her
ArLorum
adverEsement
parodied
convenEonal
images
of
the
arEst
as
“macho
man”
Robert
Morris,
ExhibiEon
Ad,
1974
Lynda
Benglis,
ArLorum,
1974

15. Lynda
Benglis
Would
a
woman
be
taken
seriously
if
she
played
up
her
femininity?
BeNy
Grable,
1943
Lynda
Benglis,
ArLorum,
1974

16. Lynda
Benglis
Within
the
ideological
structures
of
the
art
establishment,
the
categories
“arEst”
and
“woman”
canceled
one
another
out
-­‐-­‐
one
could
be
one
or
the
other,
but
not
both
Lynda
Benglis,
ArLorum,
1974

17. Woman
as
Object
of
Representa6on
Feminists
arEsts
and
art
historians
also
began
to
quesEon
the
way
women
are
depicted
in
art

18. Stereotypical
Roles
1. Woman
as
sex
object
2. Woman
as
ideal
mother
3. Woman
as
savage
witch

19. Woman
as
Sex
Object
RepresentaEons
of
women
portray
them
as
“objects”
rather
than
“subjects”
Linda
Nochlin
and
Thomas
B.
Hess,
Woman
as
Sex
Object,
1972

20. Woman
as
Sex
Object
“The
imagery
of
sexual
delight
or
provocaEon
has
always
been
created
about
women
for
men’s
enjoyment,
by
men.”
Linda
Nochlin,
“EroEcism
and
Female
Imagery
in
Nineteenth
Century
Art”
1972
Barbara
Kruger,
cover
design
for
W
magazine’s
“ The
Art
Issue”
November
2010

21. Woman
as
Sex
Object
“It
is
arguable
that,
despite
her
ubiquitous
presence,
woman
as
such
is
largely
absent
from
art.
We
are
dealing
with
the
sign
‘woman,’
empEed
of
its
original
content
and
refilled
with
masculine
anxieEes
and
desires.”
Lisa
Tickner,
“ The
Body
PoliEc:
Female
Sexuality
and
Women
ArEsts
Since
1970,”
Art
History,
1
(June
1978),
236-­‐251.
Willem
De
Kooning
Woman
I,
1950-­‐52
Museum
of
Modern
Art

22. Joan
Semmel
“Living
in
a
female
body
is
different
from
looking
at
it,
as
a
man."
Lisa
Ticknor,
The
Body
Poli0c
Joan
Semmel,
Knees
Together,
2003

23. Joan
Semmel,
Mythologies
and
Me,
1976

24. The
Feminine
Mys6que
Women
began
to
quesEon
their
“desEny”
as
wives
and
mothers
"The
problem
lay
buried,
unspoken,
for
many
years
in
the
minds
of
American
women
.
.
.
.
Each
suburban
wife
struggled
with
it
alone.
As
she
made
the
beds,
shopped
for
groceries
…
she
was
afraid
to
ask
even
of
herself
the
silent
quesEon
—
'Is
this
all?”
BeNy
Friedan,
The
Feminine
Mys0que,
1963
BeNy
Friedan,
the
Feminine
Mys0que,
1963
hNp://www.h-­‐net.org/~hst203/documents/friedan1.html

25. The
Feminine
Mys6que
SemioEcs
of
the
kitchen:
parodies
cooking
shows
that
indoctrinate
women
into
their
roles
as
housewives
Martha
Rosler,
Semio0cs
of
the
Kitchen,
1975
hNp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zSA9Rm2PZA

26. The
Feminine
Mys6que
"An
anE-­‐Julia
Child
replaces
the
domesEcated
'meaning'
of
tools
with
a
lexicon
of
rage
and
frustraEon."
Martha
Rosler
Julia
Child’s
popular
cooking
show
The
French
Chef
premiered
in
1963,
and
ran
naEonally
for
10
years

27. Feminist
Art
Program
Feminist
Art
Program,
CalArts,
1970
Program
founded
on
Feminist
“consciousness
raising”
strategies
Judy
Chicago
and
Miriam
Schapiro,
1970

28. Feminist
Art
Program
Womanhouse
ExhibiEon
–
an
abandoned
house
in
L.A.
Image
source:
hNp://womanhouse.refugia.net/
Womanhouse,
exhibiEon
catalog,
1972

29. Womanhouse
1972
Young
college
age
women
were
expected
to
marry
and
have
families
Miss
Chicago
and
the
California
Girls,
poster
produced
by
the
Feminist
Art
Program,
Fresno
State
College,
1970-­‐71

30. Womanhouse
1972
CollaboraEve
installaEons
explore
and
quesEon
women’s
domesEc
roles
“Womanhouse
was
a
new
kind
of
art-­‐
making
which
took
private
and
collecEve
female
experiences
as
its
subject
maNer.”
Faith
Wilding,
“By
Our
Own
Hands,”
1977
hNp://womanhouse.refugia.net/
Kathy
Huberland,
Bridal
Staircase,
1972

31. Nuturant
Kitchen,
Womanhouse,
1972
Linen
Closet,
Womanhouse,
1972

32. Womanhouse
1972
Judy
Chicago’s
Menstrua0on
Bathroom
challenged
social
taboos
surrounding
menstruaEon
“Under
a
shelf
full
of
all
the
paraphernalia
with
which
this
culture
‘cleans
up’
menstruaEon
was
a
garbage
can
filled
with
the
unmistakable
marks
of
our
own
animality"
Judy
Chicago
Menstrua0on
Bathroom,
Womanhouse,
1972

33. Womanhouse
1972
Performances
also
explored
gender
roles
through
role
play
and
parody
Cock
and
Cunt
Play,
Womanhouse,
1972

34. “WaiEng
for
him
to
noEce
me,
to
call
me
WaiEng
for
him
to
ask
me
out
.
.
.
.
WaiEng
for
my
children
to
come
home
from
school
WaiEng
for
them
to
grow
up,
to
leave
home
WaiEng
to
be
myself
“
Faith
Wilding
Faith
Wilding,
WaiEng,
Womanhouse,
1972

35. Judy
Chicago
Judy
Gerowitz
began
her
career
as
a
Minimalist
arEst
Judy
Chicago,
Rainbow
Pickets,
1966

36. Judy
Chicago
In
the
1970's
she
reinvented
herself
as
Judy
Chicago
Judy
Chicago,
Exhibi0on
announcement

37. Judy
Chicago
Central
core
imagery
Vaginal
iconology
Georgia
O’Keefe,
Jack
in
the
Pulpit,
1930
Judy
Chicago,
Female
Rejec0on
Drawing,
1974

38. Vaginal
Iconography
Female
nude
–
erases
female
genitals
Jean
Auguste
Dominique
Ingres,
The
Source,
1856

39. Judy
Chicago
“[To]
be
a
woman
is
to
be
an
object
of
contempt,
and
the
vagina,
stamp
of
femaleness,
is
devalued.
The
woman
arEst,
seeing
herself
as
loathed,
takes
that
very
mark
of
her
otherness
and
by
asserEng
it
as
the
hallmark
of
her
iconography,
established
a
vehicle
by
which
to
state
the
truth
and
beauty
of
her
idenEty.”
Judy
Chicago
and
Miriam
Shapiro,
1972
Judy
Chicago,
Female
Rejec0on
Drawing,
1974

40. The
Dinner
Party
39
individual
place
se{ngs
reclaim
women’s
“herstory”
Judy
Chicago,
The
Dinner
Party,
1973-­‐79

43. The
Dinner
Party
999
addiEonal
names
inscribed
on
the
“heritage
floor”
Judy
Chicago,
The
Dinner
Party,
1973-­‐79

44. The
Dinner
Party
Plates
designed
to
resemble
female
genitals
Judy
Chicago,
The
Dinner
Party,
1973-­‐79

48. Cri6cs
Accused
of
biological
essenEalism:
biology
determines
idenEty
Renee
MagriNe,
The
Rape,
1934

49. Cri6cs
Complaints
that
Chicago
took
all
the
credit
The
Dinner
Party
core
group
at
the
exhibiEon
premiere
at
the
San
Francisco
Museum
of
Modern
Art,
1979
Photo
courtesy
of
Through
the
Flower
Archives

50. Legacy
The
Dinner
Party
created
a
new
audience
for
art
Women’s
LiberaEon
Parade,
1970
Bella
Abzug,
a
candidate
for
Congress,
holds
a
sign
that
reads:
"Free
the
female
body
from
pain
and
inequality.”
hNp://www.life.com/image/2643279/in-­‐gallery/42292

51. Miriam
Schapiro
Femmage:
collage
using
“feminine”
materials
and
procedures
Miriam
Schapiro,
Anonymous
Was
a
Woman,
1976

52. “Throughout
the
history
of
art,
decoraEon
and
domesEc
handicra[s
have
been
regarded
as
women's
work,
and
as
such,
not
considered
"high"
or
fine
art.
QuilEng,
embroidery,
needlework,
china
painEng,
and
sewing—none
of
these
have
been
deemed
worthy
arEsEc
equivalents
to
the
grand
mediums
of
painEng
and
sculpture.
The
age-­‐
old
aestheEc
hierarchy
that
privileges
certain
forms
of
art
over
others
based
on
gender
associaEons
has
historically
devalued
"women's
work"
specifically
because
it
was
associated
with
the
domesEc
and
the
Miriam
Schapiro,
Wonderland,
1983
Smithsonian
‘feminine.’”
Women's
Work
(Brooklyn
Museum)

53. Miriam
Schapiro
The
“decoraEve”
–
a
challenge
to
Modernist
hierarchies
Miriam
Schapiro,
Barcelona
Fan,
1979
Frank
Stella,
Hatra
I,
1967

54. Miriam
Schapiro
Kimonos:
embrace
non-­‐western
tradiEons
Miriam
Schapiro,
Paris
Vesture
Series
2,
1979

55. PaPern
&
Deocra6on
“[W]e
were
curious
about
the
pejoraEve
use
of
the
word
'decoraEve'
in
the
contemporary
art
world.
In
rereading
the
basic
texts
of
Modern
Art,
we
came
to
realize
that
the
prejudice
against
the
decoraEve
has
a
long
history
and
is
based
on
hierarchies:
fine
art
above
decoraEve
art,
Western
art
above
non-­‐Western
art,
men's
art
above
women's
art.
By
focusing
on
these
hierarchies
we
discovered
a
disturbing
belief
system
based
on
the
moral
superiority
of
the
art
of
Western
civilizaEon
”
Valerie
Joudon
and
Joyce
Kozloff
Valerie
Joudon,
Pantherburn,
1979