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The Historiography of Feminist Art

In the 1970’s feminism had grown from women fighting for the right to vote in the early nineteen hundreds, allowing them a place at the table to help shape political change, to pushing against gender norms and the ideals of what a wife and mother looks like. They wanted to see an end to sexist discrimination, end the government’s control over their bodies with Roe v. Wade, and they were sounding a much louder battle cry wanting to be heard and seen as equals to men instead of lesser than.


Enter Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party and you have a representation of the voices of women and their impact on society from Prehistory to the contemporary America’s. She focused on the contributions of women from music, literature, medicine, art, and more. Chicago was in essence sounding her own battle cry for feminism by saying women have been here all along, shaping and molding our lives for the better and now you too, can join the table and continue what these women started by bringing your own unique contributions to the world.


Judy Chicago selected over 1000 women to represent the achievements of woman, both real and fictional, in The Dinner Party. She signaled out 39 women to have a seat at the table while almost 1000 others had their names inscribed on the floor as the foundation for the table. This placement of women over women created a beautiful symbol of how the women of today would not be where they are now without the women that came before them. Further, by positioning the sculpture as a table, she was inviting other women to join the table, to imagine themselves sitting with these women, and to look beyond the table to the future. It’s this positioning that allows the narrative to continue forty-five years later.


Contemporary feminists, in the third and fourth wave of feminism, may look at Chicago’s work with contempt, hurt, or even anger due to her lack of representation of women from “Spain, Portugal, or any of the empires’ former colonies in the Americas” (Allen, “Returning the Gaze with Vengeance”). While everyone is entitled to their own feelings and emotions, focusing on those not seated at the table negates the sculpture of its intention and power. Were there other notable woman across the globe that Judy could have included in her piece? Most assuredly. Was the work created in a time when information about other countries was readily available? Further, would these women even have been written about in journals and books published outside of their own countries? Likely, the answer on both accounts is no. Judy Chicago made a stunning tribute to the role of women in her society and world view, and it should not be disparaged for the representation it lacks. Rather, contemporary feminists should pick up where Chicago left off and continue the narrative. Create works of art that bring to light inspirational women from all over the globe and various time periods. They should sound the battle cry for equality across race and gender and inspire the fourth wave of feminism.


The feminism of the early 1900’s opened the door for other marginalized groups and paved the way for a new group of feminist artists including Zanele Muholi, Lorna Simpson, and Monica Mayer. Contemporary artist Zanele Muholi picked up the feminist mantel laid down by artists Judy Chicago and Mary Kelly in the 70’s and 80’s and is now creating intersectional feminist artwork that is politically charged and speaks out against racism and discrimination. A “Black, Queer, non-binary visual activist”, Muholi has stated, “What is important to me is how my work challenges and contributes to society and the place of Black LGBTQIA+ people within it” (Abel-Hirsch, Zanele Muholi: Art and activism”). This work builds on Chicago’s desire to share the contributions women had on society and Mary Kelly’s work which highlighted the role of motherhood in the contemporary lexicon.  As the world evolves so do the needs of women and feminism in the public record. No longer do we just look at the role and treatment of women as its own category. It has now expanded to include race, gender, transgender, #metoo, and so much more. As the term feminism evolves so does the work needed to express the current culture.


Zanele Muholi’s photography is arresting. Whereas with Chicago’s work one had to step up to the table to see the details and read the names presented, Muholi’s photographs grab your attention in an almost confrontational manner as soon as you enter the gallery space. Large scale portraits and rows of portraits are almost disarming in the way they stop you and force you to see them. That’s what is so gripping about their work. You can’t look away which forces you to see the people as they are then and there. Contemporary artist Lorna Simpson’s work is similar in its ability to grip you at first sight. Combining text with often life-sized photographs Simpson disrupts current stereotypes regarding race, gender, and sex. “She asks us to see beyond face value into the deeper layers of what it means to be a Black female, utilizing both her own memories and our shared history to make poignant remarks about the nature, power, and problems of representation” (“Lorna Simpson”).


With intersectional feminist art taking center stage in the fourth wave of feminism, one can look back at Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Table and ask themselves, how can we add another table? Like the long-ago Thanksgiving dinner from your childhood where you positioned card tables together until everyone had a place to sit, so too, we must expand the table to include more influential and notable women. Contemporary feminist artists are making a case for race, gender, and equality, but they’re not necessarily highlighting the work women have done to continue moving progress forward. Such as the inspirational writings of Maya Angelou, the children’s rights activism of Malala Yousafzai, the civil rights activism of Rosa Parks, social and gender roles highlighted by Pakistani artist Anila Quayyum Agha, and so on. The table created by Chicago needs to expand and in doing so, inspire and insight a need for change in a new generation of feminists. As the narrative continues to sift and evolve, so must the table. With the emergence of video art, it would be easy to imagine video screens beyond the tables that flash table settings for new influential women. Perhaps adding some empty seats as well making it easier for young girls to imagine themselves one day joining this table of inspirational women. As contemporary feminist artist Monica Mayer said, “I think the most important thing feminist art has given me is the understanding that an artist’s work is more than producing art works” (De Cossio, “Monica P. Mayer”). This was the crux of Chicago’s The Dinner Party. It was a stunning sculpture, but the underpinning of meaning made it so much more. That is why the fourth wave of feminist art is so important and why artists must continue to build on the narrative started by Chicago. It’s about more than aesthetics, it’s about meaning and transforming the contemporary political narrative so we can leave the world better and more accepting for future generations.

 

   

Works Cited

Abel-Hirsch, Hannah. Zanele Muholi: Art and activism. British Journal of Photography, 24

November 2021, Zanele Muholi: Art and activism - 1854 Photography. Accessed 17

September 2024.

Allen, Esther. Returning the Gaze with a Vengeance. NY Books, 8 July 2018,

De Cossio, Gonzalez. Monica P. Mayer. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum: Monica

P.  Mayer. Accessed 17 September 2024.

Lorde, Audre. The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House. Sister Outsider,

1984. Accessed 17 September 2024.

“Lorna Simpson.” The Art Story, Lorna Simpson Paintings, Bio, Ideas | TheArtStory. Accessed

17 September 2024.

Nochlin, L. Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? Art News, January 1971,

women-artists-4201/. Accessed 17 September 2024.

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