The Power of Feminist Art: The American Movement of the 1970s, History and Impact

An exciting testament to the power and enduring impact of feminist art of the 1970s, this visually overwhelming volume combines 245 illustrations, nearly half in color, with essays and interviews by Judy Chicago, Miriam Schapiro, Linda Nochlin, Yolanda Lopez and other artists, critics and art historians who participated in the movement. Some of the artists profiled sought to reclaim women's bodies from masculine objectification, while others attempted to redefine female identity, understood as a social construct. Protests against racism and sexism, avant-garde installations and performances and large-scale urban projects mingle with rediscoveries of the ancient Great Goddess. Essays document the launching of the feminist art movement in California in the early '70s and its spread through artists' coalitions, feminist journals and alternative galleries. This dynamic study reveals the still largely unacknowledged impact of feminist art on postmodernism and the contemporary art scene. Broude and Garrard are art history professors at American University. (Nov.)