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| Judy Chicago and behind her The Dinner Party |
Throughout the years I have been to Brooklyn many times,
however I have never attended the Brooklyn Museum. We sometimes take advantage
of where we live and how easy it is to get up and go to an art/history museum.
The Brooklyn Museum consists of such diverse artwork; each floor contributes to
different art movements/eras. Elizabeth A. Sackler center for feminist art was
the most important in regards to what we are learning in class currently. Judy Chicago
who was one of the pioneers of the Feminist art movement during the 1960’s and
1970s, advocated for women’s rights as artists and reshaped women’s traditional
visual arts. Her art piece Dinner Party, celebrates the achievements of women
throughout history. Before entering the Dinner
Party we encountered the six woven banners which was also “designed by Judy
Chicago, the tapestries repeat the red, black and gold tones associated with
The Dinner Party”(Brooklyn Museum). “It incorporates motifs found throughout
the piece, such as triangular, floral, and abstracted butterfly forms”
(Brooklyn Museum). The entry banners contain phrases inspired by a poem written
by Judy about her vision of an equalized world, where women’s history and
viewpoints are recognized. The poem had each line illustrated on each banner:
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| Entry Banners |
And
She Gathered All before Her
And She made for them A Sign to See
And lo They saw
a Vision
From this day forth Like to like in All things
And then all that
divided them merged
And then Everywhere was Eden Once again (Brooklyn Museum)
The Dinner party is an enormous banquet table in the shape
of an equilateral triangle, which has many symbolic meanings. It is an early
sign for women, ancient symbol for goddesses, the vision for an equalized
world, feminism and a religious undertone deriving from the thirteen men
present at the Last Supper. Since there were thirteen place settings on each
side it also symbolized “witches’ coven…the fact that the same number had both
positive (Last Supper) and a negative connotation seemed perfect for the dual
meaning of the piece” (Judy Chicago). It represents 1,038 women in history, 39
of the guest of honors were placed on the table settings. On the tiles below
the dinner table, called The Heritage
Floor, has 999 names. They were considered women who were important in the
art, history, religious or political world. The names are grouped around the
place setting according to similarities in achievements. Each table setting had
different unique and extravagant fabric embroideries. “Upon these are placed,
for each setting, a gold ceramic chalice and utensils, a napkin with an
embroidered edge, and a fourteen-inch china painted plate with a central motif
based on butterfly and vulvar forms. Each place setting is rendered in a style
appropriate to the individual women being honored” (Brooklyn Museum). Wing one table begins in prehistory and
continues chronologically with the development of Judaism, then moves to early
Roman Empire. Wing two represent early Christianity, wing three embodies the
American revolution and the women’s suffrage movement.
One of the place setting represented was Kali. Kali has
roots in ancient East Indian belief systems from the first millennium B.C
(Brooklyn Museum). She serves as a reminder of death’s inevitability, which
encourages acceptance and dispels fear. She is also a goddess of fertility of
time, and is the protector often called upon during disasters and epidemics. Kali
was also depicted by Chitra Ganesh, who is a New York-based contemporary artist
whose work centers on feminist narratives through South Asian cultural
iconography. The art piece is called Eyes
of Time it portrays Kali as a demon slaying goddess. Ganesh incorporated
material gathered during her yearlong stay in India, because she wanted to
create a three dimensional sculptural elements. Kali Ganesh stated
“intersecting narratives that unravel across the space of the wall, forming new
avatars that draw from Kali, as well as other figures from the Dinner Party, in
order to think through femininity as a complex multilayered representational
project” (Chitra Ganesh).
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| Chitra Ganesh's "Eyes of Time" representing Kali |
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| Chicago's depiction of Kali's table setting |
One table setting that caught my attention was Artemisia
Gentileschi. As you can see in the picture below Judy placed a rich velvet
fabric on her table setting. Artemisia was a well-known artist during the 17th
century, we have discussed numerously about her famous art works. Her most
famous art pieces are “Judith Beheading Holofernes” and “Susana and the
Elders”. The reason why Judy Chicago decided to use the gold fabric is because it engulfs the plate, representing the safe, protective environment that Orazio Gentileschi attempted to create for his daughter. (Brooklyn Museum)
Georgia O’Keefe is known to be one of the most important
American artists of the 20th century. O’Keefe’s representations of
the beauty of the American landscape has been an iconic part of art history.
She is considered to be one of the most important leading women in the feminist
art movement. “She worked in a discipline dominated by male artists, critics,
gallery owners, and curators, who were critical of women artists”.. O’Keefe
once said that “The men liked to put me down as the best woman painter. I think
I’m one of the best painters”. Her plate at The Dinner Party has the most
height, signifying her artistic liberation and her success as a female artist.
Judy Chicago pays tribute to both O’Keefe’s originality and the imagery in her
paintings.
References
References
Brooklyn Museum: Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art: The Dinner Party: Entry Banners. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/entry_banners/
Brooklyn Museum: Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art: The Dinner Party: Place Setting: Artemisia Gentileschi. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/place_settings/artemisia_gentileschi.php
Brooklyn Museum: Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art: The Dinner Party: Place Setting: Georgia O'Keeffe. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/place_settings/georgia_o_keeffe.php
Brooklyn Museum: Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art: The Dinner Party: Place Settings: Browse. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/place_settings/browse.php
Judy Chicago Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works | The Art Story. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.theartstory.org/artist-chicago-judy.htm
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