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| Judy Chicago The Dinner Party 1974-1979 Brooklyn Museum, USA |
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Rights (Photo / Work):
Photo © Donald Woodman Photographer (www.DonaldWoodman.com)
© Judy Chicago, 2013 and licensed for use by
Bildrecht, Wien, 2013
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In this installation, created with the assistance of more than 400 volunteers, Judy Chicago honors altogether 1038 women. For 39 among them place settings have been set on a triangular table. 999 other important women are honored on the so-called "Heritage Floor"[1]. Their names are inscribed on hand-cast porcelain tiles on the floor where the table rests upon. The guests of this "Dinner Party" are historical or mythical women, who are invited to this dinner and provided thus with a communication platform to make their voices heard. The triangular shape (ca. 15 metres each side)[2] reminds of the female pubic triangle and of its depiction in prehistoric times, such as in "La Ferassie" in Dordogne or in the three women from "Roc-aux Sorciers". In many cultures, the triangle is the archaic symbol for woman and goddess.[3] For realizing her idea Judy Chicago has decided to integrate as per tradition female handicraft techniques, such as pottery, embroidery, crochet that mostly are devaluated to artisanal handicraft and not are recognized as art. Ironising and satirizing the chosen media, she puts them into the context of art and museums where art is exhibited. Judy Chicago about her work: The Dinner Party is a reinterpretation of the last supper from the point of view of those who have cooked for hundreds of years, and at the same time it is intended to emphasize the fact that in the course of history great women have been consumed instead of being honored."[4] Setting the table, cooking, taking care of the family are activities that belong to the classic female stereotype. Chicago picks up this central element in an ironically pragmatic way and uses various narrative levels for rendering the density of the topic.
Biografie: http://www.judychicago.com/about/bio.php (Translation: K. Seifter) |
