Judy Chicago is an influential 20th century feminist artist that was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 20, 1939. She was born into the name of Judith Sylvia Cohen, but after the death of her father and husband, she changed her name in an effort to create a movement where no man could dominate over the name of a female (Bio 1). Chicago showed a passion for art that was encouraged by her mother May and began to draw at the age of three. At this young age, she attended classes at The Art Institute of Chicago, and was determined to pursue a career in art. She knew that there was nothing else she would rather do, and in making that decision she attended the University of California, Los Angeles. After attaining her Master’s degree, things started looking good for Chicago. She began teaching art in university’s throughout Chicago and was the first to create a feminist art program in Fresno, California.
Chicago supported women’s art and created movements that represented strengths of women in society of how useful their artwork was. She encouraged women to pursue their dreams of art and depicted hardships and lifestyles of women in the 20th century. By creating artwork through skills obtained by women, she used different forms of art through needlework, embroidery, etc.- forms known as “female skills" (The Art Story). She aimed to acknowledge and recognize women’s accomplishments by inspiring women to feel like individuals and human beings. "In studios restricted to women, students were encouraged to share their experiences and to work in ways that made specific references to women's experiences of themselves and their bodies" (Chadwick 357). She created movements that symbolized women didn’t need to depend on men and art work that showed their individual strengths and struggles. She did so by creating pieces that depicted the importance of women in society and how necessary their presence was.
Through her various works of art, she depicted ways in which women lived and showed her support for women who deserved to be praised for their hardships. Her goal was to get women’s work out there in the open and no longer be underrepresented. "Seeking to redress women's traditional underrepresentation in the visual arts, Chicago focused on female subject matter" (The Art Story). In representing other influential women who were passionate about art, she reformed women’s history by getting their work to be viewed and understood by society as a whole. Chicago knew women needed their credit and didn’t want to be inferior to men for the rest of their lives, so teaching art to women enabled her to teach women how to be respected for their art.
"I could no longer pretend in my art that being
a woman had no meaning"
-- Judy Chicago
Not only did Chicago’s artwork portray women’s history and culture over time, but it resembled women’s individuals accomplishments, which she honored through her works. She strived to show society what it was like to be a woman, and how each and every woman has an effect on the world today, just as important as men do. In creating an image for all the women in society, Chicago created different art forms depicting women in all ways. "Through abstract in form, she associated them with female anatomy- breasts, belly, and vulva- and with sensations of sexual and emotional pleasure (Chadwick 357). Many of her artworks aim to identify women in a manner incomparable to men.
Her artwork is displayed in various forms, such as texts, online, exhibitions in museums, and etc. She is well- known for her women’s reform movement and her inspiration to change the world that women live in today. A few of her famous works are listed below:
Her artwork is displayed in various forms, such as texts, online, exhibitions in museums, and etc. She is well- known for her women’s reform movement and her inspiration to change the world that women live in today. A few of her famous works are listed below:
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| The Dinner Party, 1979 |
“The Birth Project” was another piece that represented all women in society, artist or not. It served to represent a women’s process of giving birth and the importance of their reproduction to enable more lives into the world. Collaboratively, this piece was made through the help of needleworkers and others who specialized in “female art skills.” This painting represents not only the hard work of women through the birth process, but also the time and dedication of creating this piece of art through many different women. This piece represent horrific and painful experiences of giving birth from various women and portrays the idea that it is a woman’s duty to produce a new life. Chadwick mentions the "use of forms in which open, central shapes and layered, often petal- like images predominated, images that related to what Chicago identified as 'a central core, my vagina, that which made me a woman'" (Chadwick 358).
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| The Birth Project from "The Creation," 1985 |
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| "Virginia Woolf," The Resurrection Triptych, 1973 |
Works Cited
Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. 4th ed. New York, N.Y.: Thames and Hudson, 1990. Print.
"Judy Chicago." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 07 Apr. 2015.
Judy Chicago. [Internet]. 2015. TheArtStory.org website. Available from:
http://www.theartstory.org/artist-chicago-judy.htm [Accessed 07 Apr 2015]
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