Painting a Revolution: A Talk with Judy Chicago on Art, Gender, Feminism, and Power

Abstract

One important legacy of the 1970s' feminist movement is feminist art, an approach to making art closely identified with one of its founders, Judy Chicago. In a wide-ranging interview, Chicago discusses the aims of feminist art practice from her perspective, its worldwide impact on younger generations of women artists, and its relationship to the current gay- and lesbian-identified art movement. Chicago also describes the expansion over the years of her feminist social critique to include issues of race, class, and sexual orientation; the impact of her Jewish background on her art and feminism; the reaction of the art world to her work as a feminist artist; and the relevance of her friend and mentor, Anais Nin, to feminism. The introduction and postscript to the interview explore the influence of images and symbols on human social life in general and how feminist art like that produced by Chicago challenges the tendency of patriarchal society to engage in wars and other forms of destructive behavior promoted through symbols and images that celebrate male sexual potency.