Deanna Hamilton Art II

June 5, 2008 Miss Lewandowski

Judy Chicago

The artist that I was assigned was Judy Chicago; however, she was not born with this name. Judith Sylvia Cohen was born July 20, 1939 in Chicago, Illinois to a Jewish family. She changed her last name because it was a symbol of independence by escaping the name she was forced to have. Her parents were both activists in the field of politics. Judys father was a union organizer while her mother had a professional job which was unique for women in this time period. Chicago attended college at University of California in the early 1960s and received her bachelors and masters degree. It wasnt until the 1970s that Judy Chicago got her claim to fame. At this college, she met her husband, Jerry Gerowitz, but he died two years later from a car accident. After this tragic event she still continued to work at colleges in California until she branched out on her own creating her own unique and creative works of art. Chicago is mostly known for her feminists views. She was part of the Feminist Art Movement so that could explain it. She worked to accentuate the females point of view in her paintings. She then began to move into sculpture because the female imagery was a big part of her works so she could explore the human body even more. She first started with basic simple geometric forms in her sculptures and then advanced. She also worked various materials such as metal and fiberglass and firework display sculptures. In her works, she began developing a more sexual tone to it but this was all leading back to her feminist imagery. Judy Chicago then began teaching at California Institute for the Arts and became the leader of the Feminist Art Program. One of her famous installations was known as Womanhouse which contained many sexual works of art which also had very sexual titles, one by the title of Menstration Bathroom. Her entire career was based off of works such as these and always had the theme of feminism. Judy Chicago was so into the whole feminist theme because the world was mainly dominated by male artists and broadening the horizons with feminism opened up a whole new door for art. She later had a

series of flower painting which again led back to the feminist theme since these flowers resembled the female sexual organ. She was inspired by Georgia OKeefe and one of her famous flower paintings was called Through the Flower. One of Judy Chicagos most famous projects were The Dinner Party, The Birth Project, and The Holocaust. Each one of these works used materials associated with women and feminist views such as needlework, quilting, tapestry, etc. The Dinner Party took two years and it was a triangle with three sides and 39 settings on the table which resembled women from history. It also took 400 people to complete in 1979 and had contained the names of 999 more women on the inside of the triangle with a flower symbol. It was very controversial because it was described as obscene and outrageous. It was rejected to be shown as museums and most people were weary and afraid to show such a work of art. The second work of art, The Birth Project, was all about the joys of childbirth and was completed in 1985. This, unlike The Dinner Party, was two-dimensional and had needlework done to depict the childbirth process and interviews of women describing their own personal experiences with childbirth. This also challenged the views of artists and made a controversy as well. Her third work, The Holocaust was completed in 1993 with the help of her third husband which depicted the horrors of genocide and Nazis. She used painting, photography, stained glass, and many other various materials to really accentuate her work. This piece was an emotional work since it captivated its audience with the horrors of the Holocaust and all the lives lost in Germany. Throughout all of Judy Chicagos works, she has been extremely criticized and critiqued for her controversial works of art; however, her artwork still manages to become very popular among people who view her projects. Judy Chicago is still alive today and her artwork is still on display and still very popular in todays society.

When I was first assigned this artist, I had no clue who she was. Although she is famous, Ive mostly heard of Dali, Monet, Picasso, etc. but I wasnt really aware of Judy Chicago. I think she is a very interesting artist and here artworks are very fascinating. I think its amazing that she is a feminist and I think it is amazing how she can incorporate her feminist ideas and base her art off of this theme. I find it a bit weird of how she incorporates sexuality into her artwork though. Some of her artwork is a bit strange such as the flowers that look or resemble the female sexual organs. I personally dont find an interest in her artwork but I wouldnt criticize it but dont think that this kind of artwork is necessarily interesting and captivates my attention. I thought it was sort of disturbing when I was searching up images and I saw one that looked like sexual intercourse. Thats not something that I would necessarily want to observe; however, I think that it was amazing that she was a feminist and how she incorporated what she believed as the main theme of her artwork. Im so glad that I was given Judy Chicago because it was very interesting to learn about her and her ideas about artwork. I also thought it was fascinating how in the project The Holocaust, she incorporated all types of various materials to make a masterpiece. All in all, this artist is amazing even if I dislike some of her works because of the sexuality.