Feminism Art Theory

Hilary Robinson is Dean of the School of Art and Design and Professor of Visual Culture at Middlesex University London, having previously held positions at Carnegie Mellon University, USA, and the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland. She is the author of Reading Art, Reading Irigaray: The Politics of Art by Women (2006), and the editor of Visibly Female: Women and Art Today (1987).

Preface x

Acknowledgements and Sources xii

Introduction: Feminism–Art–Theory: Towards a (Political) Historiography 1

1 Overviews 8

Introduction 8

1.1 Gender in/of Culture 12

Valerie Solanas, ‘Scum Manifesto’ (1968) 12

Shulamith Firestone, ‘(Male) Culture’ (1970) 13

Sherry B. Ortner, ‘Is Female to Male as Nature is to Culture?’ (1972) 17

Carolee Schneemann, ‘From Tape no. 2 for Kitch’s Last Meal’ (1973) 26

1.2 Curating Feminisms 28

Cornelia Butler, ‘Art and Feminism: An Ideology of Shifting Criteria’ (2007) 28

Xabier Arakistain, ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang: 86 Steps in 45 Years of Art and Feminism’ (2007) 33

Mirjam Westen, ‘rebelle: Introduction’ (2009) 35

2 Activism and Institutions 44

Introduction 44

2.1 Challenging Patriarchal Structures 51

Women’s Ad Hoc Committee/Women Artists in Revolution/WSABAL, ‘To the Viewing Public for the 1970 Whitney Annual Exhibition’ (1970) 51

Monica Sjöö, ‘Art is a Revolutionary Act’ (1980) 52

Guerrilla Girls, ‘The Advantages of Being a Woman Artist’ (1988) 54

Mary Beth Edelson, ‘Male Grazing: An Open Letter to Thomas McEvilley’ (1989) 54

Lubaina Himid, ‘In the Woodpile: Black Women Artists and the Modern Woman’ (1990) 60

Jerry Saltz, ‘Where the Girls Aren’t’ (2006) 62

East London Fawcett, ‘The Great East London Art Audit’ (2013) 64

2.2 Towards Feminist Structures 66

WEB (West–East Coast Bag), ‘Consciousness‐Raising Rules’ (1972) 66

Women’s Workshop, ‘A Brief History of the Women’s Workshop of the Artist’s Union 1972–1973’ (c. 1973) 67

Martha Rosler, ‘Well, is the Personal Political?’ (1980) 68

Lucy Lippard, ‘Trojan Horses: Activist Art and Power’ (1984) 69

Anne Marsh, ‘A Theoretical and Political Context’ (1985) 79

Xabier Arakistain et al., ARCO Manifesto: ‘Politics of Equality between Men and Women in the Art World’ (2005) 85

Parliament of Spain, ‘Article 26: Equality in Artistic and Intellectual Creation and Production’ (2007) 86

2.3 Activism in Practice 88

Mierle Laderman Ukeles, ‘Manifesto for Maintenance Art, 1969!’ (1969) 88

Leslie Labowitz‐Starus and Suzanne Lacy, ‘In Mourning and in Rage …’ (1978) 91

Zoe Leonard, ‘I Want a President’ (1992) 95

Andrea Fraser, ‘There’s No Place like Home’ (2012) 96

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, ‘Opening Courtroom Statement by Nadya’ (2013) 102

2.4 Education 106

Miriam Schapiro, ‘The Education of Women as Artists: Project Womanhouse’ (1972) 106

Lisa Tickner, ‘Retrospect’ (2008) 107

Griselda Pollock, ‘Opened, Closed and Opening: Reflections on Feminist Pedagogy in a UK University’ (2010) 114

Lisa Nyberg and Johanna Gustavsson, ‘Radical Pedagogy’ (2011) 124

3 Historical and Critical Practices 129

Introduction 129

3.1 Interrogating ‘Art History’ 134

Linda Nochlin, ‘Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?’ (1971) 134

Griselda Pollock, ‘Women, Art and Ideology: Questions for Feminist Art Historians’ (1983) 149

Mira Schor, ‘Patrilineage’ (1991) 159

3.2 Feminist/Writing 165

Carol Duncan, ‘Virility and Domination in Early Twentieth Century Vanguard Painting’ (1973) 165

Joan Borsa, ‘Frida Kahlo: Marginalization and the Critical Female Subject’ (1990) 169

Freida High W. Tesfagiorgis, ‘In Search of a Discourse and Critique/s that Center the Art of Black Women Artists’ (1993) 185

Maureen Connor, ‘Working Notes: Conversation with Katy Deepwell’ (2002) 198

Martina Pachmanová, ‘In? Out? In Between? Some Notes on the Invisibility of a Nascent Eastern European Feminist and Gender Discourse in Contemporary Art Theory’ (2009) 203

4 Materials, Practices, Choices 217

Introduction 217

4.1 Aesthetic Choice 223

Judy Chicago, ‘Woman as Artist’ (1971) 223

Marjorie Kramer, ‘Some Thoughts on Feminist Art’ (1971) 225

Pat Mainardi, ‘A Feminine Sensibility?’ (1972) 227

Judith Stein, ‘For a Truly Feminist Art’ (1972) 228

Anne‐Marie Sauzeau‐Boetti, ‘Negative Capability as Practice in Women’s Art’ (1979) 229

4.2 Craft 233

Rozsika Parker, ‘The Creation of Femininity’ (1984) 233

Catherine Harper, ‘I Need Tracey Emin Like I Need God’ (2004) 237

Stephanie Syjuco, ‘Anti‐Factory’ (2008) 240

4.3 Painting 241

Katy Deepwell, ‘Paint Stripping’ (1994) 241

Alison Rowley, ‘Plan: Large Woman or Large Canvas? A Confusion of Size with Scale’ (1996) 246

Amy Sillman, ‘AbEx and Disco Balls: In Defense of Abstract Expressionism II’ (2011) 250

4.4 New Media 255

Mitra Tabrizian, ‘The Blues: An Interview with Mitra Tabrizian Discussing her Latest Work with Alex Noble’ (1987) 255

Faith Wilding, ‘Where is the Feminism in Cyberfeminism?’ (1998) 260

Elisabeth Subrin, ‘Trashing “Shulie”: Remnants from Some Abandoned Feminist History’ (2006) 266

Alla Mitrofanova, ‘Cyberfeminism in History, Practice and Theory’ (2010) 271

Stéphanie Jeanjean, ‘Disobedient Video in the 1970s: Video Production by Women’s Collectives’ (2011) 279

5 Representing Women 288

Introduction 288

5.1 Between Image and Representation 293

John Berger, Chapter 3 of Ways of Seeing (1972) 293

Laura Mulvey, ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ (1975) 300

Mary Kelly, Preface to Post‐Partum Document (1983) 310

Judith Williamson, ‘Images of “Woman”: The Photography of Cindy Sherman’ (1983) 314

Elizabeth Grosz, ‘Inscriptions and Body‐Maps: Representations and the Corporeal’ (1990) 320

Lynda Nead, ‘Framing the Female Body’ (1992) 322

Nelly Richard, ‘Politics and Aesthetics of the Sign’ (2004) 329

5.2 The Artist’s Body in the Artwork 340

Lucy Lippard, ‘The Pains and Pleasures of Rebirth: European and American Women’s Body Art’ (1976) 340

Mary Duffy, ‘Disability, Differentness, Identity’ (1987) 343

VALIE EXPORT, ‘Aspects of Feminist Actionism’ (1989) 345

Orlan, ‘Intervention d’Orlan’ (1995) 361

Amelia Jones, ‘Yayoi Kusama’ (1998) 367

6 Sex, Sexuality, Image 372

Introduction 372

6.1 Sexuality and the Sexual Body 376

Barbara Rose, ‘Vaginal Iconology’ (1974) 376

Suzanne Santoro, ‘Towards New Expression’ (1974) 378

Joanna Frueh, ‘Feminism’ (1989) 379

Buseje Bailey, ‘I Don’t Have to Expose my Genitalia’ (1993) 385

‘Interview with Betty Tompkins’ (2006) 388

Chris Kraus, ‘May ’69’ (2011) 393

6.2 Lesbian and Queer Practices 398

Monique Wittig, ‘The Straight Mind’ (1980) 398

Jan Zita Grover, ‘Framing the Questions: Positive Imaging and Scarcity in Lesbian Photographs’ (1991) 402

Shonagh Adelman, ‘Desire in the Politics of Representation’ (1993) 408

Ridykeulous, ‘Advantages of Being a Woman Lesbian Artist’ (2006) 410

Zanele Muholi, ‘Ngiyopha: A Photo‐biographical Project’ (2009) 410

Catherine Lord, ‘Wonder Waif Meets Super Neuter’ (2010) 414

7 Identity, Geography, Citizenship 435

Introduction 435

7.1 Projections 440

Kass Banning, ‘The Ties That Bind: Here We Go Again’ (1987) 440

Adrian Piper, ‘The Triple Negation of Colored Women Artists’ (1990) 444

Diane Losche, ‘Reinventing the Nude: Fiona Foley’s Museology’ (1999) 455

Jieun Rhee, ‘Performing the Other: Yoko Ono’s Cut Piece’ (2005) 461

7.2 Political Violence 471

Jill Bennett, ‘Art, Affect, and the “Bad Death”: Strategies for Communicating the Sense Memory of Loss’ (2002) 471

‘Regina José Galindo’, interview by Francisco Goldman (2006) 477

‘Between the Monument and the Ruin’, interview with Lida Abdul by Candice Hopkins (2007) 482

7.3 Global Citizens 486

Tracey Rose, ‘The Cant Show’ (2007) 486

Tanja Ostojić, ‘Crossing Borders Series’ (2009) 488

Shirin Neshat, ‘Art in Exile’ (2010) 491

Index 494