October 29, 2010 Lecture

First wave feminist art and the ripples before and after

Feminist Movement:

1. The essentials:  Key elements were about identity, the personal, the feminine body, sexuality, vaginal iconography, and affirming female attributes.   Woman as defined by women and not men.
2. Materials and techniques unique to woman such as weaving, jewelry, dishes, and crafts.
3. Activism:  performance art as a means to find voice from women's viewpoint, engage the public and create sisterhood.
4. Distinguish art between women and men.  Tension in movement, if separate get, "That's pretty good for a girl".  Women's art was personal and about bodies, conceptual.  Men's art was theoretical.

Feminist artists:

• Frida Kahlo - work from the psychological and dream point of view, very personal.
• Georgia O'Keeffe - female genitals through flowers
• Marrianne Brandt - works of metal include objects women are associated with such as lamps, tea cups, etc.
• Adrian Piper - performance art about her identity as a black woman. 
• Judy Chicago - installation of painted china and creating place setting for different female artists.  A statement about traditional women's work.

This movement portrays the advancing of women's rights such as the right to vote, the right to have control over their own bodies with birth control and the Equal Pay Act.  It deals with identity, iconography, and taking back the definition of woman.