September 26, 2011, Featured Articles, Pacific Standard Time

Doinʼ It in Public: Feminism and Art at the Womanʼs Building

Fri, Sep 16, 2011

The much-anticipated exhibition, Doinʼ It in Public: Feminism and Art at the Womanʼs Building, opens October 1 at the Ben Maltz Gallery on the main campus of Otis College of Art and Design. Along with historical ephemera and documentation, the show surveys the work of groundbreaking feminist artists/designers and artist collectives who gathered together at the Los Angeles Womanʼs Building from 1973 through 1991. The exhibitionʼs opening reception and publication launch is expected to draw many of the artists who pioneered the feminist art movement in Los Angeles and beyond. Artist Linda Vallejo will enact a collaborative opening ceremony that recalls the legacy of the Woman's Building community. Vallejoʼs art performance will be followed by The Waitresses, a performance art group formed in 1977 by artists who were also waitresses, as well as graduates of the Feminist Studio Workshop at the Womanʼs Building. And renowned feminist artist and Womanʼs Building co-founder Judy Chicago will make a personal appearance and sign books at the opening reception October 1, 4pm-7pm.

The feminist art movement of the 1970s set off an explosion of art-making and analysis that continues to reverberate in the art world today, and the Woman's Building (WB) in Los Angeles was one of its epicenters. In 1973, artist Judy Chicago, graphic designer Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, and art historian Arlene Raven founded the WB, and for over two decades it helped shape the regional and international cultural landscapes. Through extensive public performances, site-specific work, networking with political activists, and collaborations, the feminist art movement at the WB raised consciousness, invited dialogue, and transformed culture. The WB handed women their rightful claim to the role of “artist.” It inspired and allowed members to create a community of women who saw art as a powerful tool for social change, and shared this vision with the public. A listing of the artists featured in Doinʼ It in Public, including Miriam Schapiro, Faith Wilding, Betye Saar, and Suzanne Lacy, can be found at www.otis.edu/benmaltzgallery.

Exhibitions such as WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution, 1965-1980, (MOCA, Los Angeles, 2007); Catalog L.A.: Birth of Art Capital: 1955-1985 (Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2006); and Sexual Politics: Judy Chicago's Dinner Party in Feminist Art (Hammer Museum, 1996) positioned the WB within the West Coast feminist art movement. This exhibition is the first to fully explore the contributions of the Womanʼs Building in its widest ramifications.

The major focus of Doinʼ It in Public is revealing the WBʼs emphasis on developing, teaching, and executing collaboration. The work of collaborative groups such as Ariadne: A Social Art Network, Chrysalis Magazine, Feminist Art Workers, Feminist Studio Workshop, The L.A. Womenʼs Video Center, Madre Tierra Press, Mother Art, Sisters Of Survival, The Waitresses, and the Womenʼs Graphic Center is presented and contextualized through the exhibition, programs, and publications.

Otis is releasing a two-volume publication in conjunction with the exhibition. Volume I: From Site to Vision: the Womanʼs Building in Contemporary Culture, is a collection of 14 essays originally published online in 2007, edited by Sondra Hale and Terry Wolverton. Essayists include Sheila Levrant de Bretteville and Lucy R. Lippard, activist and writer on contemporary art and culture. Volume II: Doinʼ It in Public: Feminism and Art and the Womanʼs Building includes research and writing by a prestigious team of scholars who assembled in 2008-09 to shape the curatorial focus of this project.

On October 15 and 16, to complement the exhibition, Otis is producing Still Doinʼ It: Fanning the Flames of the Womanʼs Building, with a performance by the Feminist Art Workers. Part convening, part symposium, part reunion, part performance, the two-day event is a dialogue between feminist artists then and now. Doinʼ It in Public scholars Alexandra Juhasz, Jennie Klein, Michelle Moravec, and Jennifer Sorkin present tours of the exhibition on Saturday afternoon, and WB writers read from their work in the evening at Antioch University. Sunday includes a no-host reunion breakfast with keynote speaker Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, plus interactive dialogues and performances including one by the Feminist Art Workers. On Sunday afternoon Phranc, the all-American Jewish lesbian folksinger, hosts “This Is Your Life: the Womanʼs Building” at the Skirball Cultural Center. The complete schedule and tickets are available at http://www.otis.edu/public_programs/ben_maltz_gallery/wb_tickets.html.

Doinʼ It in Public 411

Doinʼ It in Public is on view October 1 through January 28, 2012. Admission and parking are free. Doinʼ It in Public is part of Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980. This unprecedented collaboration, initiated by the Getty, brings together more than sixty cultural institutions from across Southern California for six months beginning October 2011 to tell the story of the birth of the L.A. art scene.

Otis has organized multiple Doinʼ It in Public programs and events, spanning four months, including:

Beginning October 6, Show nʼ Tell will occur most Thursdays at Noon throughout the run of the exhibition at the Ben Maltz Gallery. A case in the exhibition is opened to share a closer look at some of the artists' books, graphic materials, and historical artifacts on display.

On November 5, a premiere of the film Mother Art Tells Her Story, followed by a tour of the show by feminist art cooperative Mother Art in the Ben Maltz Gallery.

On January 14, a presentation by Feminist Art Workers: Cheri Gaulke and Laurel Klick in the Ben Maltz Gallery.

Otis has collaborated with other Pacific Standard Time participants to host interactive workshops and film screenings about related exhibition themes. Public programs include receptions, tours, and poetry readings, in addition to an extensive website with an ongoing oral ʻherstoryʼ project linking to YouTube and Facebook. Otis students will participate in curricular activities and produce an electronic news magazine that surveys feminist art today, and Otisʼ position in the evolution of the L.A. art scene. The full events calendar can be viewed at: http://www.otis.edu/public_programs/ben_maltz_gallery/wb_events.html

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