American artist, author, feminist, ecofeminist, historian, humanist, and educator Judy Chicago is back in London.
At the age of 84 and with an art career spanning over six decades, she gives us hope that paradigms and stereotypes can be shifted and that it is never too late to rewrite history, highlighting the achievements of women from prehistory to now: Herstory. An advocate for women’s cultural history, Chicago’s path to success was far from easy, as she worked on a totally alternative art historical paradigm, challenging the male dominated art world in the late 1960s.
”Revelations,” both an exhibition that has opened at the Serpentine Gallery and an unknown illuminated manuscript that Chicago penned in the early 1970s while creating "The Dinner Party" (1974–79), retells human history, recovering some of the stories of women that society sought to erase.
Chicago never imagined that the book would be published at the time as it was impossible to find a publisher, but it will now be released by Thames & Hudson in conjunction with the exhibition. A beautiful passage in her book reads: “Then both man and woman were gentle and both man and woman were strong. And then no person was subject to another’s bile. And then all lived in harmony with each other and the Earth”.
This is what Chicago believes and motivated her all her life. The exhibition offers an interdisciplinary, immersive experience of memories and stories, through an AR app, a video recording booth, audio-visual components, multi-media elements and participatory artwork.
I first met Chicago in 2012 when we invited her to exhibit at Riflemaker Gallery and I introduced her to Nicolas Serota and Hans Ulrich Obrist. I was impressed with her trailblazing energy, the rapid flow of her thoughts, her confidence, and her infectious laughter. This led to a solo presentation at Frieze Masters (2013) showcasing her diverse series of works followed by a group show, "The World Goes Pop," at Tate Modern (2015) featuring her bold and colourful card hoods, and now, the opening of the Serpentine exhibition. Chicago has returned to London with renewed vigour.
This exhibition is thematically and chronologically organized around the manuscript’s five chapters, focusing on drawing— an essential medium in Chicago’s practice and an exploration of various themes. Moving around the gallery, "Revelations" traces the artist’s career and brings together new, archival, and never-seen-before artworks that address themes of birth and creation, the construct of masculinity, notions of power, extinction, ecofeminism, and concerns for environmental justice.
Judy Chicago continues to question notions of power, social conditioning, and the construct of masculinity
"Revelations" could be seen as a biblical and generous apocalyptic protest against forgetting female protagonists and Mother Nature, presenting a series of different works from various periods: her early career abstract and minimal work (60s-70s), stories and recollections of "The Dinner Party" (1974-79), "Women and Smoke" (1971-72), "Birth Projects" (1982), "Power Play" (1982-87), and "Shadow Drawings" (1980s). Her latest piece, "And God Created Life" (2023), challenges the idea of a male God. Instead of portraying God as a bearded older man, Chicago’s vision transcends racial and binary gender spectrums, depicting God with breasts, a vulva, and a penis.
As a pioneer of the feminist art movement in the 60s, Judy Chicago continues to question notions of power, social conditioning, and the construct of masculinity. The fact that these questions remain pertinent today prompts us to question our societal evolution. Chicago remains relevant in her efforts to challenge dominant narratives.
These questions inspired the global call-and-response project titled "What If Women Ruled the World?" (2022), where Chicago and a founding member of Pussy Riot, Nadya Tolokonnikova invited the public to join in this participatory artwork to support gender equality and create change. Visitors to the exhibition can also contribute to the work by answering some profound questions such as "Would Old Women be Revered?", "Will Buildings Resemble Wombs?" "Would there be Equal Parenting?" "Would Men and Women be Equal?" and others.
Chicago advocates for changing the patriarchal paradigm with a vision of the world where equality is the norm, change is the goal, and working together toward this end is the purpose of life. Her advocacy throughout the years for women’s history and expression serves as a poignant reminder of the ongoing need for equality, societal transformation, and an equitable world.
