Judy Chicago And The Feminist Art Movement

Irina Mihalachii Feminist Art Movement Women have always been present in male’s most famous art works, but the question was why there were no famous women artists? In male’s art pieces women have always been either sexualized and desirable creatures (such as Monet’s Olympia or GUSTAVE MOREAU’s Dance of Salome)) or traditional role of mothers and housewives (such as Blessed Art thou Among Women by GERTRUDE KÄSEBIER). The feminist art movement began in 19060’s and reflects art made by women about their lives, views and their experiences. These women strived to achieve equality …show more content…
Her contribution to feminist art movement began in 1970’s when she started a feminist art program for women at of the California State University. She created her most famous work in 1974, “The Dinner Party”. It is a huge installation of a table with place for thirty nine women. All the thirty nine women are notable women that have a significant importance in society. The art installation honors all these important women that have been ignored previously or mistreated. On the plate there is a sculpture that looks like a vagina, which represents a woman. Besides the thirty nine sittings, the installation consist of 999 names of other women. Judy Chicago used the triangle for her installation as symbol of fertility and equality between men and women. Her art work itself, is a revision of history, in which women worked to change the women models and to make women’s voices to be heard. The Dinner Party is considered the most recognizable piece of feminist art that was ever made and was seen by millions of people. This piece of art has been a subjects of many articles, discussions and publications which brought a lot of attention into feminist art movement. Judy Chicago wanted to help women to transform the world through art. She still believes that feminist art movement can make people to see the world through other people’s eyes and therefore to make a …show more content…
Her art pieces have been not only in galleries, but on magazines covers, huge installations on walls, billboards and on buildings. Her art is between design and fine arts, she takes many images mass media, such as magazines, and puts a combination of words on them (questions, slogans). One of her most famous art pieces is Untitled or “Your body is a battleground”,1989. She splits the face in two part, one positive and one negative related to the struggle between good and bad. The work is based on her direct feelings , telling us about feminist struggle and gender roles. By saying “Your body is a battleground” she is suggesting us that female’s physical appearances , in this case a perfect symmetric face with beautiful eyes and lips, in our society, is a battleground. The negative and positive sides of her work shows that society turns females into something that it wants to see, although some women are not what society wants them to be. The text she use is meant to hit the viewers in the face since it was designed for March on Washington in support of women’s rights and the abortion-rights movement. By this piece of art, she send strong messages to society, regarding women’s rights and feminism. She talks about power and hierarchy in our society. Barbara Kruger relates her works with consumerism society in which we live. By living in a world where everything can be bought and sold, she also portraits women who