Judy Chicago - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1848221207 ISBN 13: 9781848221208

Publisher: Lund Humphries, 2012

Synopsis

Born into a left-wing, politically active Jewish family in Chicago in 1939, Judy Cohen grew up in a household in which human rights and values were issues of principle, and the empowerment of the individual was an imperative rather than an aspiration. This environment, and the untimely death of her father, helped to shape the artist known today as Judy Chicago. A combination of talent, sheer will, vision, courage and ambition led her to became one of the most pioneering, daring and controversial artists of her generation. This fully illustrated book presents a unique perspective on the art of Judy Chicago, highlighting selected major themes from four decades, explored across a wide range of media including painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, film, performance and textile work. In contrast to the monumental series and large-scale works for which Chicago is best known, the publication reveals a more private and intimate side to her work, hitherto largely unfamiliar to the public. The authors explore recurrent themes which emerge from her art: autobiography, art as diary, erotica, feminism, the nude, self-portraiture and issues of power, birth and motherhood. Reproductions of Chicago’s work, drawn from the artist's archive and from public and private collections in the USA, and including a number not previously seen in public, are contextualized with works by Louise Bourgeois, Tracey Emin and Helen Chadwick, each of whom has addressed similar issues in their own distinctive fashion during the latter part of the 20th century.

About this title

About the Author:

Rachel Dickson is Head of Curatorial Services at Ben Uri, The London Jewish Museum of Art. She has curated both historical and contemporary exhibitions for the museum since 2002 and has contributed to or edited many of the museum's catalogues and a number of academic publications. Judy Batalion is an art historian and writer. Her art criticism, journalism and personal essays have appeared in publications including the Washington Post, the Jerusalem Post, Contemporary Theatre Review, Salon, the Jewish Quarterly and the Forward. Frances Borzello has written extensively on women artists and recently collaborated with Judy Chicago on Frida Kahlo: Face to Face (2011). Diane Gelon was the original administrator for the UK tour of The Dinner Party in 1984-5. Alexandra Kokoli is a feminist art historian based at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen. Andrew Perchuk is Deputy Director of the Getty Research Institute. He was co-director of Pacific Standard Time, the major recent initiative that re-examined the West Coast's contribution to postwar American art, in which Judy Chicago features significantly.

Review:

'...The five scholarly essays, by curators, art historians, and critics, are well written and perceptive. The essays lend insight into the artist's themes of female sexuality and vulnerability. This large-format book is lavishly illustrated and beautifully designed...Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above.' Choice

About this edition

• Publisher: Lund Humphries
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1848221207
• ISBN 13: 9781848221208
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 208
• Editor: Dickson Rachel