|
|
I am writing this from London after a two week frenzy of openings, media, meetings and late night dinners. 
Judy Chicago and Bill Harpe in front of the Black-E Shortly after we arrived, we attended the opening of Donald's first London show at the Brick Lane Gallery, which was a great start to our London trip. The next day, we traveled to the Black-E, an alternative community arts center in Liverpool where there was a reception in conjunction with a small exhibition and the publication of "Women, Art and Society: A Tribute to Virginia Woolf", my 1982 lecture on Virginia Woolf originally presented on the centenary of her birth. While we were there, we toured the Liverpool Biennial with its director, Sally Tallant, who filled the sadly empty historic buildings with lively installations. 
Judy Chicago speaking at reception at the Black–E, Liverpool 
Riflemaker Gallery, London 
Friends of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, UK dinner at home of Beth and Michele Colocci Back in London, there were two more crowded openings, the first one at the Riflemaker gallery, housed in a quaint 18th century building and named after the original tenant. This show is focused on my early work which is also the subject of the wonderful "Deflowered" catalog produced by Tim Nye (my Los Angeles/New York gallerist). The catalog includes an essay by Saul Ostrow and the reprint of Lucy Lippard's 1974 ArtForum interview which — like the Virginia Woolf catalog — captured my spirit as a young woman artist searching for predecessors who could help me on my path of forging an openly female centered iconography. After the Riflemaker opening, there was an elegant dinner at the home of Beth and Michele Colocci, hosted by the Friends of the National Museum of Women in The Arts, UK, part of an international network supporting the mission of NMWA. 
Riflemaker Exhibition Opening 
Judy Chicago in front of Ben Uri Gallery 
Judy Chicago at Ben Uri Press Preview 
Panel at Whitechapel Gallery, l to r: Anna Somers Cocks, Judy Chicago, Andrew Perchuk, Frances Borzello The next evening, a very different show opened at the Ben Uri Gallery, a modest museum space that was so packed that people spilled out into the street. This exhibition examines a rather unknown and personal side of my art and includes examples of related themes by Louise Bourgeois, Helen Chadwick and Tracey Emin. The catalog — published by the Ben Uri and Lund Humphries — was superbly designed by Izzie Thomas and includes a number of essays including an overview by British art historian Frances Borzello and a discussion of my California roots by Andrew Perchuk, Deputy Director of the Getty Research Institute and one of the curators of "Pacific Standard Time," the Getty initiative that brought so much attention to my early work. The next evening, Frances and Andrew joined me in a sold-out panel discussion at Whitechapel Gallery, which was moderated by Anna Somers Cocks, the founder of The Art Newspaper. 
Crowded opening at Ben Uri Gallery In between all of these events, I did interviews, as happily there was a lot of media attention including a major article in the Sunday Observer magazine, pieces in the Guardian, the Huffington Post UK, the Financial Times and two BBC interviews among others. (Some of these can be seen and heard in the News from Chicago section of my website). All in all, the London adventure helped advance my goal of introducing the range of my work in Europe where I have been known primarily in relation to The Dinner Party. This had begun to change when the Getty's "Pacific Standard Time" show went to Berlin in early 2012 where I was also in a show curated by Tim Nye. And in May, 2013, the Riflemaker show will travel to Marianne Hultman's gallery, Oslo Kunstforening, in Oslo, Norway in conjunction with a symposium celebrating the 100th anniversary of women gaining the vote there. All in all, the trip to the UK has been incredible, especially the warm reception that I have received — which demonstrates that art can cross borders, touch people's hearts and build a sense of connection between strangers. Still, I'll be glad to go home to my studio, our cats and the bright New Mexico sunshine. 
Penn State Bulletin In September, Judy Chicago and Donald Woodman visited Penn State for the first time to discuss plans for Chicago's art education archive, which is coordinated by art education professor, Karen Keifer-Boyd. It was gratifying to discover that the archive is already stimulating a considerable amount of interest. We thought that our friends and supporters would be interested in regular updates from Karen about what is going on at the university in relation to Chicago's archive of eleven teaching projects, as well updates on The Dinner Party Curriculum. 
Judy Chicago's inaugural visit to The Judy Chicago Resource and Coordination Office at Penn State, September, 2012
Judy and Donald perusing the Judy Chicago Art Education Archive in the Special Collections Library at Penn State
The Judy Chicago Art Education Collection at Penn State, Beginning Year Two
Teaching Conversations, Penn State professors using collection in feminist project; Karen Keifer-Boyd center What a pleasure and burst of energy when Judy Chicago and Donald Woodman visited Penn State University on September 17th and 18th, 2012 to see the Judy Chicago Art Education Collection at Penn State. During the visit, Judy Chicago and Donald Woodman met eighteen Penn State faculty members at a dinner party at my home. My colleagues and I are all involved in a project titled Teaching Conversations in which we are all engaging the Collection in relation to our teaching. Judy inspired, questioned, challenged, and supported all of us as she listened to our respective ideas. 
Judy and Donald meeting with Penn State faculty members at dinner party hosted by Karen Keifer-Boyd Teaching Conversations is a project of a group of feminist colleagues at Penn State in architecture, film, communications, art history, theatre, visual arts, art education, English/utopian studies, information science and technology, curriculum and instruction, archives, Jewish studies, and women's studies who began to engage in conversations together in fall semester 2011 about the Judy Chicago Art Education Collection and especially about ways to use it in our curriculum. Our conversations have been recorded and transcribed for inclusion in the archive. Student work created as part of diverse curricular engagement with the Judy Chicago archives at Penn State will be exhibited throughout the campus in spring 2014 as part of the campus wide celebration of Judy Chicago's archive. 
Judy Chicago and Jacqueline Esposito touring archives at Penn State Jacqueline Esposito, University Archivist and Head, Records Management Programs, provided a tour of the state-of-the-art archives at Penn State, and discussed her plans for a 2014 exhibition of the Collection in the Library's Special Collections exhibition area. Esposito's commitment to the accessibility and preservation of archives, efficient and effective leadership, and integrity and ethics toward social justice and community participation are characteristics that I have witnessed first-hand in the stewardship of the Judy Chicago Art Education Collection. Additionally, Esposito has provided presentations and workshops with faculty across campus and for a graduate research in art education conference on the Judy Chicago Art Education archives that have been highlights for visitors to the University and motivational within the University. Twelve courses have used the Collection this fall semester, i.e., courses in theatre, Jewish Studies, women's studies, six different art education classes, and freshman seminars in English and History. The stewards of the archives at Penn State joke that the Judy Chicago Collection is never archived because it is in constant use. In addition to Penn State courses using the Collection in their curriculum, during the fall 2012 semester, there have been numerous workshops with museum docents and high school art teachers. As a result of working with the contents of the Collection, significant dialogue is being generated about research-based art located in individual experience connected to larger socio-political, institutional, and/or environmental issues and contexts. For more information about the Judy Chicago Art Education Collection, visit the online archive at judychicago.arted.psu.edu which gives information about both the online and onsite archive of the Judy Chicago Collection at Penn State. Thank You Judy Chicago and Through the Flower would like to thank Beth Colocci and the Friends of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, UK, for their hospitality and support during Judy’s London trip. It was a great opportunity to meet members of this organization, founded in 2006 to support and advance art by women, past and present, with a connection to the UK. Women in the Arts, UK is part of an international network supporting the mission of NMWA. We encourage our friends and members to learn more about Women in the Arts, UK by visiting their website, www.women-in-the-arts-uk.org. |
|
|||||
|
Unless otherwise noted, all photos by Donald Woodman. |
||||||
