Still Dangerous!

Harmony Hammond, Professor Emerita of Art at the University of Arizona, is a visual artist, writer, educator, activist, and independent curator.Tirza True Latimer is Professor Emerita of History of Art and Visual Culture at the California College of the Arts.Julia Bryan-Wilson is Professor of Contemporary Art and LGBTQ Studies at Columbia University.

“Harmony Hammond’s gentle wisdom informs her profound illumination of the expanded and inclusive history of feminist-inspired artmaking over six decades. Defending feminist abstraction while exploring inscriptions of lesbian desire in diverse art processes, Hammond’s precious, historic writings are prefaced by editor Tirza True Latimer’s contextual introductions. This major feminist archive becomes a vital art historical resource through both authors’ feminist fidelity to our continuing struggle.”—Griselda Pollack, Professor Emerita of Social and Critical Histories of Art, University of Leeds “Harmony Hammond is a badass. Her rigorous commitment to painterly abstraction and to the expansive specificity of lesbian identity suggests we need not choose between the two. Her writing and organizing and her daily studio practice shows us the paucity of false dichotomies. This book encourages paying close attention to our bodies and surroundings while dreaming and theorizing a future we may not see.”—Helen Molesworth, author of Open Questions: Thirty Years of Writing About Art

• Captions to Color Plates xiEditor’s Note xvForeword: Reading Harmony Hammond / Julia Bryan-Wilson xviiIntroduction: Dangerous / Tirza True Latimer 1Preamble: “Art History,” Art Journal (1996) 171. 1970sEditor’s Introduction 21Statement, A.I.R. Gallery, New York (1973) 30“More on Women’s Art: An Exchange,” Art in America (1976) 32“Feminist Abstract Art—a Political Viewpoint,” Heresies: A Feminist Publication on Art and Politics (1977) 37“Class Notes,” Heresies (1977) 45“Lesbian Artists,” Our Right to Love: A Lesbian Resource Book (1978) 52Statement, Lerner-Heller Gallery, New York (1979) 55“A Sense of Touch,” New Art Examiner (1979) 572. The 1980sEditor’s Introduction 67“Horseblinders,” Heresies (1980) 73Curatorial Statement, “Home Work,” Women's Hall of Fame, Seneca Falls, New York (1981) 79“Monstrous Beauty: The Woman Gone Wild,” in Beauty and Critique (1982) 83“Affirming the Existence of the World of Images,” Wrappings: Essays on Feminism, Art, and the Martial Arts (1984) 90Statement, Chicken Lady, A.I.R. Gallery, New York (1984) 94Book Review, “Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrerra,” 13th Moon (1984) 96Book Review, “The Arts of the North American Indian: Native Traditions in Evolution by Edwin L. Wade,” Artspace: Southwestern Contemporary Arts Quarterly (1987) 104Interview with MaLin Wilson[-Powell], Jonson Gallery, University Art Museum, University of New Mexico, Alburquerque (1988) 114Artist’s Statement (1989–1990) 1233. 1990sEditor’s Introduction 127Interview with Neery Melkonian, THE Magazine (October 1992) 132“Mechanisms of Exclusion,” THE Magazine (April 1993) 138“Resistances: Cultural Tourism and Native Resistance Through Self-Representation,” THE Magazine (June 1993) 146“A Space of Infinite Pleasurable Possibilities: Lesbian Self-Representation in Visual Art,” in New Feminist Criticism: Art/Identity/Action (1994) 152“Against Cultural Amnesia,” Art Papers (1994) 182“A Lesbian Show,” in In a Different Light: Visual Culture, Sexual Identity, Queer Practice (1995) 191“Desperately Seeking Images: Pre-Stonewall and Pre-Feminist Art” (ca. 1996) 196“Painting Allowed: Lesbians Trespass in the Modernist Painting Field,” SITE SANTA FE (1997) 222“Meetings with Agnes Martin,” in Agnes Martin: Works on Paper (1998) 239“Camping Out in the Southwest,” in Out West exhibition catalogue (1999) 2474. 2000sEditor’s Introduction 259“Introduction,” Lesbian Art in American, A Contemporary History (2000) 265“Harmony Hammond, a Narrative Chronology: Part I, the Years 1944 to 1980” (ca. 2000), Compiled from Interviews by Moira Roth 268“Local Artist Makes Good,” El Puente de Galisteo (2002) 275“Material Girls: Gender, Process, and Abstract Art Since 1970,” Santa Fe Art Institute (2003) 278“The Front Line, the Big Picture, the Long Haul: An Essay in Two Parts: Theory and Practice,” in From Our Voices: Art Educators and Artists Speak Out About LGBT Issues (2003) 283Letter to Christian Rattemeyer, Curator (2004) 293Interview with Lester Strong, “Survivor Aesthetic,” A & U: America’s AIDS Magazine (2004) 296Statement, Paint on Metal exhibition, Tucson Museum of Art (2005) 300Statement, How American Women Artists Invented Post-Modernism exhibition, Mason Gross School of Art Galleries, Ruters University (2005–6) 304Statement, in High Times, Hard Times: New York Painting exhibition catalogue (2006) 306“In Her Own Words: The Meeting of Passion and Intellect,” for the National Museum of Women in the Arts (2007, 2023) 309Curatorial Essay, ¿Y QUÉ? Queer Art Made in Texas (2007) 312“Memories of the Feminist Art Institute” (2008) 317Letters to Ferris Olin and Judith K. Brodsky Regarding “The Group” (2008) 320Interview with Julia Bryan-Wilson, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Oral History Program (September 14, 2008) 323“Taking Space: A.I.R. Gallery: The Formative Years” (2008) 336Interview with Courtney Dailey (2009) 3455. 2010sEditor’s Introduction 357“A Manifesto (Personal) of Monochrome (Sort Of)” (2010) 363“Censorship,” College Art Association (2011) 366Interview with Carlos Motta, for We Who Feel Differently (2011) 370“Inroads and Outposts: Curating Queer Exhibitions in the Southwest,” Pennsylvania State University (2011) 374Wall Text, Erasing Censorship Exhibition, Left Coast Books, Goleta, California (2011) 383“Sexuality and the Museum,” Brooklyn Museum (2012) 389Artist’s Talk, Brooklyn Museum (2012) 392“The Collective Archive as Feminist Art Narrative,” the Feminist Art Project Day of Panels, Brooklyn Museum (2013) 401Curatorial Essay, Material Engagements, RedLine Contemporary Art Center, Denver (2013) 405Letter to Carey Lovelance, “Random Thoughts in Response to Your Questions” (2014) 408Letter to Sue Heinemann, “Some Thoughts on the Heresies Collective” (2014) 414Conversation with Ulrike MÜller, in Pink Labor on Golden Streets (2015) 418Interview with Clarity Haynes, Hyperallergic (2016) 427Interview with Phillip Griffith, Brooklyn Rail (2016) 431“On Harmony’s Archive,” Western States Artis-Endowed Foundations (2019) 437Statement, “Chicken Lady,” Material Witness, Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum (2019) 439Studio Visit with Jean Shapland, THE Magazine (2019) 441Interview with Tara Burk, in Art After Stonewall: 1969–1989 (2019) 448Interview with Tyler Green, The Modern Art Notes Podcast (2019) 4506. 2020–2023Editor’s Introduction 461Audio Tour, Crossings, Alexander Gray Associates Gallery, New York (2020) 463Interview with Jarrett Earnest, National Academy of Design (2011) 467Interview with Elvan Zabunyan, “Women in Abstraction: Another History of Abstraction in the 20th Century,” Centre Pompidou, Paris (2021) 477“Agnes Martin. UNTITLED, 1960. Oil on linen. 12 x 12”,” in Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction (2023) 483Acknowledgments 485Index 487Credits 509