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Yoko Ono's "Hammer a Nail"
Yoko Ono is considered a pioneer in the feminist art movement of the 60s. Ono uses her piece "Hammer a Nail" to mock the notion of the privileged artist. https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/painting-to-hammer-a-nail-yoko-ono/pAEqDOysHPoj6Q?hl=en&ms=%7B%22x%22%3A0.5%2C%22y%22%3A0.5%2C%22z%22%3A9.529719341623181%2C%22size%22%3A%7B%22width%22%3A3.033502183931869%2C%22height%22%3A1.2374999999999992%7D%7D -
Joan Brown's Girl Sitting
While Joan Brown did not consider herself as being part of the feminist art movement, or any political movement relate to feminist - she is nonetheless a celebrated figurative artist and regarded by many as being part of the beginning of the feminist art movement (Mercury News). Paraphrased text: https://www.mercurynews.com/2011/10/12/a-deeper-look-at-the-art-of-joan-brown/ Image: https://www.wikiart.org/en/joan-brown/girl-sitting-1962 -
Carolee Schneemann's "Eye Body #11"
Carolee Schneemann was a controversial feminist artist who challenged the way the body of a woman was seen by society. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/feminist-performance-artist-carolee-schneemann-dies-79-180971680/ -
Rosalyn Drexler's "Self-Portrait"
Rosalyn Drexler is a feminist pop artist who challenged societal views of women. https://canadianart.ca/reviews/rosalyn-drexler/ -
Judy Chicago's "Birth Hood" 1965
We see here Judy Chicago's "Birth Hood" which was sprayed automotive lacquer on a car hood. This piece can be found in the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco. Chicago would go on to start the Feminist Art Program al Cal Arts in 1971. https://www.artspace.com/magazine/art_101/book_report/how-did-feminist-art-begin-a-brief-history-of-women-rejecting-patriarchy-in-the-art-world-55016 -
Yayoi Kusama's "Infinity Mirror Room"
Yayoi Kusama lays in a mirror lined room, filled with phallic blobs, as a way to reflect on her psychological experience and daily life at that time. https://www.wikiart.org/en/yayoi-kusama/infinity-mirror-room-1965 -
Judith Bernstein's "Cockman #2"
Judith Bernstein often uses the depiction of the male anatomy to represent female oppression by a patriarchal society. https://www.maryboonegallery.com/exhibition/41/work/fullscreen_exhib#&panel1-4 -
May Wilson's "Snowflake Collage"
May Wilson is considered a pioneer in the feminist movement and is known for her avant-garde collage collections. In this piece of mail art, we can see what perhaps appears to be the objectification of men in the same way that women are regularly objectified. https://www.wikiart.org/en/may-wilson/snowflake-collage-muscle-gods-1967 -
Betty Tompkin's "Fuck Painting #1"
Betty Tompkin's is considered another pioneer to the feminist art movement, and known for her graphic depictions of sex as a way to celebrate sexuality, feminism, and to criticize societal standards surrounding sex and the words used to describe them (hyperallergic). Paraphrased text & Image: https://hyperallergic.com/52007/fuck-paintings-betty-tompkins/ -
Joan Semmel's "Red White and Blue"
Another pioneer to the feminist art movement, Joan Semmel is known for erotic paintings of the 1970s which celebrated women and sexuality. She continues to be an influential artist to this day. http://www.joansemmel.com/www.joansemmel.com/paintings/Pages/erotic.html#6 -
Lynda Benglis' "Totem"
Lynda Benglis is another early pioneer of the feminist art movement known for her wax and latex sculptures symbolizing scenes told from a feminist perspective. https://art21.org/gallery/lynda-benglis-artwork-survey-1970s/#5 -
Mary Beth Edelson, "Some Living American Women Arts"
Mary Beth Edelson references Da Vinci's "The Last Supper" by placing the images of notable women artists including Yoko Ono and Alice Neel
https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/some-living-american-women-artistslast-supper-76377 -
"Womanhouse"
A well-publicized exhibition inside an installation as shown here, "Womanhouse" was created by a collaborative effort with the works of Robin Welsch, Vicki Hodgetts, and Wanda Westcoast. "Womanhouse celebrated what has been considered trivial: cosmetics, tampons, linens, shower caps, and underwear became the material for high art" (artspace.com) https://www.artspace.com/magazine/art_101/book_report/how-did-feminist-art-begin-a-brief-history-of-women-rejecting-patriarchy-in-the-art-world-55016 -
Valie Export's "Einschluss"
Vallie Export is a celebrated artist associated with the Austrian feminist art movement, and often features work celebrating the female body and critiquing the male gaze. http://www.artnet.com/artists/valie-export/einschluss-K1wKbKqJxFGBP4Z0GVgN1Q2 -
Alice Neel's "Kitty Pearson"
Alice Neel was a celebrated portrait artist associated with the feminist art movement. In this painting, we can perhaps feel a celebration of unconventional beauty, the human body, and strength in womanhood. https://www.wikiart.org/en/alice-neel/kitty-pearson-1973 -
Judith Bernstein's "Dicks of Death"
Judith Bernstein often uses the depiction of the male anatomy to represent female oppression by a patriarchal society. https://www.maryboonegallery.com/exhibition/41/work -
Hannah Wilke's "S.O.S. Starification Object Series"
Hannah Wilke's crates the, "S.O.S. Starification Object Series" as a way to expose the male gaze while disrupting its objectification using strategically placed pieces of gum, as seen here, all over her body. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/feminist-artists-1970s_n_5800dfc1e4b06e0475943918 -
Judy Chicago's, "The Dinner Party"
Designed to celebrate attributes of the female experience as well as Mother Nature, "The Dinner Party" strategically places thirty-nine painted plates each representing notable women from both history and mythology, as well 999 of other women's names painted on the tiles of the installation.
https://www.theartstory.org/movement/feminist-art/artworks/ -
Lynn Hershman Leeson - "Roberta Construction Chart #1"
Over the course of two years, artist Lynn Hershman Leeson completely transformed her identity into a full assimilation of a more feminine character than her own self, Roberta. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/feminist-artists-1970s_n_5800dfc1e4b06e0475943918 -
Joan Semmel's "Sunlight"
Another pioneer to the feminist art movement, Joan Semmel is known for erotic paintings of the 1970s which celebrated women and sexuality. She continues to be an influential artist to this day. https://thejewishmuseum.org/collection/33169-sunlight