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The late 1960's marks the birth of the notorious Feminist Art movement. During this era, female artists began to fight against the stereotypes that had long defined a woman's role within the art world, as well as in all other aspects of society since the beginning of time.   This era in which Feminist Art came to light was a profound time for women,  as it allowed for a new female perspective to be developed into the creative world. While this time is known as a peak of feminism, it was not something that happened over night. The Feminist Art movement was able to prosper due to the years of activism that was fought for by first-wave feminists who diligently sought for other aspects of women's rights including women's suffrage and educational opportunities. This new movement also sought to redefine a woman's worth as well as  lean towards greater gender equality within society. It provided a way for women to show their worth, talents and contributions to the world in a way that was different, yet equally as credible as a man's. Because of this movement, women were given the chance to be seen as both a woman and an artist.

This video provides a first-hand insight to the experiences women faced during the Feminist Art movement.
https://www.theartstory.org/movement/feminist-art/

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Otis presents Pioneers of the Feminist Art Movement: Rachel Rosenthal

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A prominent influence in the Feminist Art movement was the step towards talking about the unrealistic differences between men and women. During the 1960's birth control was released, allowing women greater sexual freedom. The Feminine Mystique was published in 1963 by Betty Friedan, as a way to call out the misuse of the Freudian psychology. Friedan described how this form of "scientific theory" was misinterpreted to abuse the suppression of women. This began a new outlook the way women saw their worth and role within society.  Rather than being an inferior to men, they began to acknowledge the idea of being an equal. In  1971 Linda Nochlin also published an influential essay entitled Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? Which examined the economic factors that had prevented talented women from achieving the same status as their male counterparts.

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Feminist poetry also influenced the Feminist Art movement. Within poems written by Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath, deeper definitions and explanations of what it means to be a woman are shared. Plath's poem, "Lady Lazarus" describes her repeated suicide attempts, as she struggles with the realities of being a woman. She denotes how she  continues to live again, just as Lazarus did, yet her living is unwanted  as the reality of her life is consumed by an oppressive male-dominated world. The idea of tackling such an unspoken topic in an artistic, poetic way opened a new approach for women to express their inner-turmoil through creative channels.

Read "Lady Lazarus" by Sylvia Plath below:

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Lady Lazarus by Sylvia Plath | Poetry Foundation

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Guerrilla Girls- A Crown... or Guerrilla Head?

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Guerrilla Girls- A Crown... or Guerrilla Head?

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The Guerrilla Girls are a group of unknown women who continuously fight for feminist rights through forms of street art. This artistic collective began in the 1980's in New York City and have remained anonymous to this day. They describe themselves and their purpose as, "We wear gorilla masks in public and use facts, humor and outrageous visuals to expose gender and ethnic bias as well as corruption in politics, art, film, and pop culture. Our anonymity keeps the focus on the issues, and away from who we might be: we could be anyone and we are everywhere. We believe in an intersectional feminism that fights discrimination and supports human rights for all people and all genders." They continuously host workshops, virtual gigs and exhibitions to continue the fight for gender  equality every single day. They remain anonymous to keep the focus of their works on the feminist issues, rather than their own personalities and inputs.

https://www.guerrillagirls.com/

This piece portrays a comical yet very informative aspect to art that is included  in the Met. Museum. This is a great example of the Guerrilla Girls take  on an effective and creative way to bring prominent, current gender issues to light.

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Judy Chicago- Tonight We Dine as Queens 

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Judy Chicago- Tonight We Dine as Queens 

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Judy Chicago was one of the main contributors to the Feminist Art  movement. Her artwork oftentimes incorporated subtle yet effective movements against the gender division between women and men. The Dinner Party is one of her most influential feminist pieces, as it portrays 39 alter-like place settings reserved around a triangular table consisting of ceramic, porcelain and textile. By using mediums such as ceramic, porcelain and textiles Chicago was able to portray her artistic abilities in a way that was not the traditional male dominated medium, such as painting or sculpture. Written on the base also includes another 999 names of women who have influenced the world for the better.

As Chicago headed this artistic creation, she was not alone in its composition. Altogether, The Dinner Party took five years to complete with the help of over 300 women. This piece embodies the idea of speaking to a new group of people, women who had never been acknowledged as significant before. It also portrayed the artistic collaboration women were capable of, as well as the effectiveness of the female artistic vision. Feminist Artists such as Chicago began to create art that gave greater insight to the capabilities of a woman as an artist.

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/post-minimalism/post-minimalism-sculpture/a/judy-chicago-the-dinner-party

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Eva Hesse- Artistic Restraints Women Faced

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Eva Hesse- Artistic Restraints Women Faced

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As women fought for their art to be accepted and promoted in galleries, many exhibitions refused to share their art due to the fact that it was created by a woman. Works such as those completed by Hesse and  Chicago, got rejected as galleries assumed their art always referred back to feminine terms, instead of formal.

Ringaround Arosie completed by Eva Hesse had been questioned whether or not to have reference  to the circle of life or a woman's breast, simply due to the fact it included circular shapes. She refused any of these references and claimed that her piece had abstract meaning. Yet, no one believed that a woman could produce unbiased, formal art that had nothing to do with feminine backgrounds.

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While gender equality has come a long way since the beginning of time, there is still much to be fought for. Today many women still fight for the evolution of feminism and equal opportunity amongst genders.

Below is a 2003 representation entitled R.S.V.P. I which was recreated from a 1977 work of feminist art. The formation of pantyhose and sand has been used to depict "abstract reflections of used bodies" alluding to the reality of sexual harassment women face in society.

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Nengudi's R.S.V.P. I is a sculptural environment composed entirely of two ordinary materials: pantyhose and sand. The pantyhose-ten worn pairs-are tacked onto and stretched between two walls in the corner of a room: the taut nylon mesh evokes spidery limbs, while the center gusset, filled with sand, is twisted and knotted into bulging sacks that sag toward the ground. R.S.V.P. I highlights the formal concerns of abstract sculpture, such as weight, tension, and spatial relations, yet is undeniably redolent of fleshy associations, particularly those of the female body. Referring to her works as "abstracted reflections of used bodies," Nengudi created R.S.V.P. I in part as a response to the changes her body had undergone during pregnancy and as a rumination on the more gradual physical transformations that come with age.

R.S.V.P. I was included in Nengudi's eponymous exhibition at New York's Just Above Midtown Gallery in 1977, a commercial enterprise on Fifty-Seventh Street that had opened three years earlier with the mission of representing African American artists. As implied by the title-the commonly used French acronym for "please respond"-the objects on view were meant to be interacted with, not merely observed passively. Indeed, Nengudi and artist Maren Hassinger, her frequent collaborator, staged performances during the run of the show in which they probed and manipulated the sculptures.

Publication excerpt from MoMA Highlights: 375 Works from The Museum of Modern Art, New York (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2019)

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Nengudi's R.S.V.P. I is a sculptural environment composed entirely of two ordinary materials: pantyhose and sand. The pantyhose-ten worn pairs-are tacked onto and stretched between two walls in the corner of a room: the taut nylon mesh evokes spidery limbs, while the center gusset, filled with sand, is twisted and knotted into bulging sacks that sag toward the ground.