‘What if women ruled the world?” asks Judy Chicago. The words are emblazoned on a colossal, medieval-esque tapestry in Herstory, her exhibition at the New Museum in New York. The tapestry is set up like an altarpiece and forms the backdrop to an almost 1,000-year-old illuminated manuscript by the composer, artist, mystic and visionary Hildegard of Bingen. A woman with a wild amount of freedom for her time, Hildegard was able to speak publicly and correspond with the pope. Chicago’s question looms large and is, somehow, still surprising.
Formerly Judy Gerowitz – she renounced her married name in favour of the city of her birth – Chicago has been a formidable force in feminist art for six decades. Told by her professors in the late 1950s and early 60s that women’s contribution to European history was “none”, she took it upon herself to track down volumes of books by and about leading women in a variety of professions.
