16/2/2008
Wack!
MoMA PS1, New York
Art and the Feminist Revolution. The first comprehensive, historical exhibition to examine the international foundations and legacy of feminist art. The show focuses on the crucial period of the 1970s, during which the majority of feminist activism and artmaking occurred internationally. Comprising works in a broad range of media - including painting, sculpture, photography, film, video, and performance art - the display is organized around themes based on media, geography, formal concerns, collective aesthetic, and political impulses.
curated by Connie Butler
P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center presents WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution, the first comprehensive, historical exhibition to examine the international foundations and legacy of feminist art. Organized by MOCA Ahmanson Curatorial Fellow Connie Butler for The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, WACK! focuses on the crucial period of the 1970s, during which the majority of feminist activism and artmaking occurred internationally. Praising the exhibition, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center Director Alanna Heiss notes: "In addition to exploring international occurrences of feminist art, the show emphasizes New York's role in the movement, as well as its relationship with each artist involved. This is a particularly happy coincidence for P.S.1, as Connie Butler, the curator of WACK! in Los Angeles, has since last year joined the staff at the Museum of Modern Art, and will work on the very special installation of the exhibition with P.S.1 Director of Operations and Exhibitions Design Antoine Guerrero". This exhibition will be displayed on the entire First and Second Floors, and in the Third Floor Main Gallery from February 17, 2008 through May 12, 2008.
The exhibition spans the period of 1965 to 1980 and includes 120 artists and artist groups from the United States, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. WACK! includes work by women who operated within the political structure of feminism as well as women who did not necessarily embrace feminism as part of their practice, but were impacted by the movement. Comprising work in a broad range of media—including painting, sculpture, photography, film, video, and performance art—the exhibition is organized around themes based on media, geography, formal concerns, collective aesthetic, and political impulses. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue.
A series of performances and panel discussions presented in the Third Floor Main Gallery will connect featured artists with younger generations inspired by feminism.
WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution is organized by The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
The presentation of the exhibition at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center is made possible by Kathy and Richard S. Fuld, Jr., Agnes Gund, Jerry I. Speyer and Katherine G. Farley, and the Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts, Inc.
Additional support is provided by The Modern Women’s Fund, David Teiger, the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency, and The Contemporary Arts Council of The Museum of Modern Art.
The presentation at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles was made possible by The Annenberg Foundation. Additional generous support was provided by Geraldine and Harold Alden; The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; the National Endowment for the Arts; The Peter Norton Family Foundation; Audrey M. Irmas; The Jamie and Steve Tisch Foundation; The MOCA Contemporaries; Wells Fargo Foundation; The Broad Art Foundation; Vivian and Hans Buehler; the Barbara Lee Family Foundation Donor Advised Fund at the Boston Foundation; Étant donnés: The French-American Fund for Contemporary Art; the Robert Lehman Foundation; Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen e. V., Stuttgart; the Pasadena Art Alliance; Frances Dittmer Family Foundation; the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation; Peg Yorkin; Merrill Lynch; the Fifth Floor Foundation; The Cowles Charitable Trust; Rosette V. Delug; The Herringer Family Foundation; and the Polish Cultural Institute. Major support was also provided by Susan Bay Nimoy and Leonard Nimoy with the members of the WACK! Women's Consortium.
Image: Martha Rosler, Nature Girls (Jumping Janes), from the series Body Beautiful or Body Knows No Pain. Photomontage, Variable size Courtesy of the artist.
Opening February 17, 2008 through May 12, 2008
P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center
22-25 Jackson Avenue - New York