The legacy of feminism might not be the first thing coming to mind when considering contemporary art in Louisiana. An outgrowth of the civil rights and anti-war movements characterizing the American 1960s, the feminist art agenda exposes gender-based obstacles and seeks to dismantle hierarchy.
This past Sunday, P.S.1/MoMA opened “WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution”, featuring more than 400 artworks created between 1965-80 by 120 artists, mostly in the Western hemisphere. Among these celebrated by the extensive exhibit is Lynda Benglis (b.1941) from Lake Charles, Louisiana, who received a BFA from Newcomb College at Tulane in 1964. That same year she moved to New York: one step closer to becoming the legendary the sculptor and video artist who posed nude- with a huge dildo and terrible tan- inside the pages of an Artforum advertisement ten years later.
Included in the survey at P.S.1 through May 12 are Female Sensibility, 1973; Mumble,1972; and Odalisque (Hey, Hey Frankenthaler),1969. Even today, these pieces by Lynda Benglis feel provocative. In fact, her work may still be very ahead of its time. As of yet there are no regional events from LA, MS or ALA participating in the Feminist Art Project at Rutgers.
Posted by Laura Blereau
2 comments:
I was reading the names of the Honorary Committee members of the Feminist Art Project -- among Lucy Lippard, Linda Nochlin, and Lowery Stokes Sims, is our own E. John Bullard of NOMA!
That struck me also as quite curious also! I bet there is an amazing story behind that fact. Maybe we can interview him about feminism and the impact of Civil Rights on contemporary art in NOLA?
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