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March 27, 2009
DRITTO-ROVESCIO
Last week at the Triannale di Milano the exhibition DRITTO-ROVESCIO. It premiered the first video in the series Knitoscope Sampler (2009) pictured above, made possible with support from a 2007 Rockefeller New Media Arts grant and a 2008 MacDowell Colony fellowship. The catalog is beautiful, it has an exposed binding and features over 20 artworks. Here's the link to the museum, the show is only open for 1 more week. Top photo by Salvatore Scaduto
Posted by cat at 07:56 PM
Feminism As Young As It's Youngest Enthusiast
In the catalog essay She Will Always Be Younger Than Us Allyson Mitchell writes: "While feminism may be as old as the suffragists, it is also as young as it's newest enthusiast." While I hold this to be true, it reminds me of the challenge educators face in getting across the context of the Feminist Art Movement-- its dawn and its enduring influence. Every semester I am surprised by some of my college students’ adamancy of its irrelevance. For those of us who were not there, we need a context for these earlier moments. This is only one of the reasons I am eagerly awaiting Lynn Hershman Leeson's film Women Art Revolution and am re-reading The Power of Feminist Art.
I have often related to the video work of Oriana Fox (born 1978) whose videos (especially from 2003-04) touch on the feminist art trajectory as a skeptical response to a semester load of feminist classics. In this effort to understand its place in our current time, the catalog for Judy Chicago in Thread is a worthy addition, especially for fiber enthusiasts. We know feminisms cannot be learned without the identity politics of the Third Wave. But what came before it arrived?
The exhibition When Women Rule The World is at the Textile Museum of Canada (February 11 - September 7, 2009) in Toronto and the Art Gallery of Calgary (September 25, 2009 – Saturday, January 23, 2010).
Concurrent with Judy Chicago in Thread is the exhibit She Will Always Be Younger Than Us, which includes the Nike Blanket Petition (2003-2008) and my video Knitoscope Testimonies (2006) along with artists (in order of appearance below left to right) Ginger Brooks Takahashi, (Judy Chicago), Wednesday Lupypciw, Gillian Strong, Allyson Mitchell, me at the opening in February. Orly Cogan not pictured.
Posted by cat at 07:56 PM
Ladies Sasquatch: Allyson Mitchell
Unforgettable work by Allyson Mitchell. Her solo show Ladies Sasquatch at McMaster Museum of Art is on view from January 29 - March 28, 2009. The Ladies Sasquatch are brilliantly placed on a five-pronged stage that allows the viewer to enter their inner circle and gather around the fire. The Ladies have open mouths with a full set of teeth, rare faux-fur, split toe nails... It is an absolutely monumental and unique work. To get an idea -- a mass of 3+ human heads is probably equal to one Sasquatch cranium. See more about Allyson Mitchell on her website and if you are anywhere near Toronto do not miss this show.
Photos by: Cat O'Neil
Posted by cat at 07:56 PM
March 08, 2009
International Women's Day
International Women's Day (IWD) is marked on March 8 every year. It is a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women. Started as a political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries (primarily Russia and the countries of former Soviet bloc). In some celebrations, the day lost its political flavour, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love to the women around them in a way somewhat similar to Mother's Day and St Valentine's Day mixed together. In others, however, the political and human rights theme as designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner.
Posted by cat at 09:31 PM
March 04, 2009
Women And Art Music
Thanks for the link Julie!
Posted by cat at 12:14 PM