A short and pithy introduction to the most important feminist artworks
from the late 1960s to the present
Emerging in the late 1960s as women artists struggled to "de-gender"
their work to compete in a male-dominated arena, the feminist art
movement has played a leading role in the art world over the last five
decades. Using the "female gaze" to articulate socially relevant issues
after an era of aesthetic "formalism," feminist artists, working in a
variety of media, have brought attention to ideas surrounding gender,
identity, and form. They have critiqued and altered our thinking about
the cultural expectations and stereotyping of women, women's struggle
for equality, and the treatment of the female body as a commodity. Fifty
outstanding works reflect women's lives and experience, the changing
position of women artists, and the impact of feminist ideals and
politics on visual culture. This book is a celebration of one of the
most ambitious, influential, and enduring artistic movements to emerge
from the 20th century.