Feminism Art Theory

Hilary Robinson is Dean of the School of Art and Design and Professor of Visual Culture at Middlesex University London, having previously held positions at Carnegie Mellon University, USA, and the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland. She is the author of Reading Art, Reading Irigaray: The Politics of Art by Women (2006), and the editor of Visibly Female: Women and Art Today (1987).

"Robinson's anthology of feminist writing on, in and around art from the last 30 years does fill a very tangible gap and will be of immense use to anybody who spends their time looking at and thinking about art." (Art Monthly)

• Preface xAcknowledgements and Sources xiiIntroduction: Feminism–Art–Theory: Towards a (Political) Historiography 11 Overviews 8Introduction 81.1 Gender in/of Culture 12Valerie Solanas, ‘Scum Manifesto’ (1968) 12Shulamith Firestone, ‘(Male) Culture’ (1970) 13Sherry B. Ortner, ‘Is Female to Male as Nature is to Culture?’ (1972) 17Carolee Schneemann, ‘From Tape no. 2 for Kitch’s Last Meal’ (1973) 261.2 Curating Feminisms 28Cornelia Butler, ‘Art and Feminism: An Ideology of Shifting Criteria’ (2007) 28Xabier Arakistain, ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang: 86 Steps in 45 Years of Art and Feminism’ (2007) 33Mirjam Westen, ‘rebelle: Introduction’ (2009) 352 Activism and Institutions 44Introduction 442.1 Challenging Patriarchal Structures 51Women’s Ad Hoc Committee/Women Artists in Revolution/WSABAL, ‘To the Viewing Public for the 1970 Whitney Annual Exhibition’ (1970) 51Monica Sjöö, ‘Art is a Revolutionary Act’ (1980) 52Guerrilla Girls, ‘The Advantages of Being a Woman Artist’ (1988) 54Mary Beth Edelson, ‘Male Grazing: An Open Letter to Thomas McEvilley’ (1989) 54Lubaina Himid, ‘In the Woodpile: Black Women Artists and the Modern Woman’ (1990) 60Jerry Saltz, ‘Where the Girls Aren’t’ (2006) 62East London Fawcett, ‘The Great East London Art Audit’ (2013) 642.2 Towards Feminist Structures 66WEB (West–East Coast Bag), ‘Consciousness‐Raising Rules’ (1972) 66Women’s Workshop, ‘A Brief History of the Women’s Workshop of the Artist’s Union 1972–1973’ (c. 1973) 67Martha Rosler, ‘Well, is the Personal Political?’ (1980) 68Lucy Lippard, ‘Trojan Horses: Activist Art and Power’ (1984) 69Anne Marsh, ‘A Theoretical and Political Context’ (1985) 79Xabier Arakistain et al., ARCO Manifesto: ‘Politics of Equality between Men and Women in the Art World’ (2005) 85Parliament of Spain, ‘Article 26: Equality in Artistic and Intellectual Creation and Production’ (2007) 862.3 Activism in Practice 88Mierle Laderman Ukeles, ‘Manifesto for Maintenance Art, 1969!’ (1969) 88Leslie Labowitz‐Starus and Suzanne Lacy, ‘In Mourning and in Rage …’ (1978) 91Zoe Leonard, ‘I Want a President’ (1992) 95Andrea Fraser, ‘There’s No Place like Home’ (2012) 96Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, ‘Opening Courtroom Statement by Nadya’ (2013) 1022.4 Education 106Miriam Schapiro, ‘The Education of Women as Artists: Project Womanhouse’ (1972) 106Lisa Tickner, ‘Retrospect’ (2008) 107Griselda Pollock, ‘Opened, Closed and Opening: Reflections on Feminist Pedagogy in a UK University’ (2010) 114Lisa Nyberg and Johanna Gustavsson, ‘Radical Pedagogy’ (2011) 1243 Historical and Critical Practices 129Introduction 1293.1 Interrogating ‘Art History’ 134Linda Nochlin, ‘Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?’ (1971) 134Griselda Pollock, ‘Women, Art and Ideology: Questions for Feminist Art Historians’ (1983) 149Mira Schor, ‘Patrilineage’ (1991) 1593.2 Feminist/Writing 165Carol Duncan, ‘Virility and Domination in Early Twentieth Century Vanguard Painting’ (1973) 165Joan Borsa, ‘Frida Kahlo: Marginalization and the Critical Female Subject’ (1990) 169Freida High W. Tesfagiorgis, ‘In Search of a Discourse and Critique/s that Center the Art of Black Women Artists’ (1993) 185Maureen Connor, ‘Working Notes: Conversation with Katy Deepwell’ (2002) 198Martina Pachmanová, ‘In? Out? In Between? Some Notes on the Invisibility of a Nascent Eastern European Feminist and Gender Discourse in Contemporary Art Theory’ (2009) 2034 Materials, Practices, Choices 217Introduction 2174.1 Aesthetic Choice 223Judy Chicago, ‘Woman as Artist’ (1971) 223Marjorie Kramer, ‘Some Thoughts on Feminist Art’ (1971) 225Pat Mainardi, ‘A Feminine Sensibility?’ (1972) 227Judith Stein, ‘For a Truly Feminist Art’ (1972) 228Anne‐Marie Sauzeau‐Boetti, ‘Negative Capability as Practice in Women’s Art’ (1979) 2294.2 Craft 233Rozsika Parker, ‘The Creation of Femininity’ (1984) 233Catherine Harper, ‘I Need Tracey Emin Like I Need God’ (2004) 237Stephanie Syjuco, ‘Anti‐Factory’ (2008) 2404.3 Painting 241Katy Deepwell, ‘Paint Stripping’ (1994) 241Alison Rowley, ‘Plan: Large Woman or Large Canvas? A Confusion of Size with Scale’ (1996) 246Amy Sillman, ‘AbEx and Disco Balls: In Defense of Abstract Expressionism II’ (2011) 2504.4 New Media 255Mitra Tabrizian, ‘The Blues: An Interview with Mitra Tabrizian Discussing her Latest Work with Alex Noble’ (1987) 255Faith Wilding, ‘Where is the Feminism in Cyberfeminism?’ (1998) 260Elisabeth Subrin, ‘Trashing “Shulie”: Remnants from Some Abandoned Feminist History’ (2006) 266Alla Mitrofanova, ‘Cyberfeminism in History, Practice and Theory’ (2010) 271Stéphanie Jeanjean, ‘Disobedient Video in the 1970s: Video Production by Women’s Collectives’ (2011) 2795 Representing Women 288Introduction 2885.1 Between Image and Representation 293John Berger, Chapter 3 of Ways of Seeing (1972) 293Laura Mulvey, ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ (1975) 300Mary Kelly, Preface to Post‐Partum Document (1983) 310Judith Williamson, ‘Images of “Woman”: The Photography of Cindy Sherman’ (1983) 314Elizabeth Grosz, ‘Inscriptions and Body‐Maps: Representations and the Corporeal’ (1990) 320Lynda Nead, ‘Framing the Female Body’ (1992) 322Nelly Richard, ‘Politics and Aesthetics of the Sign’ (2004) 3295.2 The Artist’s Body in the Artwork 340Lucy Lippard, ‘The Pains and Pleasures of Rebirth: European and American Women’s Body Art’ (1976) 340Mary Duffy, ‘Disability, Differentness, Identity’ (1987) 343VALIE EXPORT, ‘Aspects of Feminist Actionism’ (1989) 345Orlan, ‘Intervention d’Orlan’ (1995) 361Amelia Jones, ‘Yayoi Kusama’ (1998) 3676 Sex, Sexuality, Image 372Introduction 3726.1 Sexuality and the Sexual Body 376Barbara Rose, ‘Vaginal Iconology’ (1974) 376Suzanne Santoro, ‘Towards New Expression’ (1974) 378Joanna Frueh, ‘Feminism’ (1989) 379Buseje Bailey, ‘I Don’t Have to Expose my Genitalia’ (1993) 385‘Interview with Betty Tompkins’ (2006) 388Chris Kraus, ‘May ’69’ (2011) 3936.2 Lesbian and Queer Practices 398Monique Wittig, ‘The Straight Mind’ (1980) 398Jan Zita Grover, ‘Framing the Questions: Positive Imaging and Scarcity in Lesbian Photographs’ (1991) 402Shonagh Adelman, ‘Desire in the Politics of Representation’ (1993) 408Ridykeulous, ‘Advantages of Being a Woman Lesbian Artist’ (2006) 410Zanele Muholi, ‘Ngiyopha: A Photo‐biographical Project’ (2009) 410Catherine Lord, ‘Wonder Waif Meets Super Neuter’ (2010) 4147 Identity, Geography, Citizenship 435Introduction 4357.1 Projections 440Kass Banning, ‘The Ties That Bind: Here We Go Again’ (1987) 440Adrian Piper, ‘The Triple Negation of Colored Women Artists’ (1990) 444Diane Losche, ‘Reinventing the Nude: Fiona Foley’s Museology’ (1999) 455Jieun Rhee, ‘Performing the Other: Yoko Ono’s Cut Piece’ (2005) 4617.2 Political Violence 471Jill Bennett, ‘Art, Affect, and the “Bad Death”: Strategies for Communicating the Sense Memory of Loss’ (2002) 471‘Regina José Galindo’, interview by Francisco Goldman (2006) 477‘Between the Monument and the Ruin’, interview with Lida Abdul by Candice Hopkins (2007) 4827.3 Global Citizens 486Tracey Rose, ‘The Cant Show’ (2007) 486Tanja Ostojić, ‘Crossing Borders Series’ (2009) 488Shirin Neshat, ‘Art in Exile’ (2010) 491Index 494