My first impression of Elles: look how far we've come as artists...
and how much we have to say. I visited the Seattle Art Museum's mega-exhibit of women artists with the perfect companion: Anna Nasset of AOT Gallery in Port Townsend!
Since we came to see art through a feminine lens, I made us some lady goggles to celebrate. Women's art history is sorta [her] thang" from her college days. Speaking of history, here's Adrian Piper's 1988 video installation Cornered, challenging the viewer's assumptions about racial identity.
The edginess of this piece seems dated to me. Yet Jenny Holzer's text pieces from earlier in the 1980s spoke to me more effectively, possibly because viewers can't avoid issues of survival like they can avoid discussing subtle racism.
There are two halves to this exhibit: Elles: Women Artists from the Centre Pompidou and Elles: SAM -- Singular Works by Seminal Women Artists. So you'll see work from big names like Georgia O'Keeffe...
... Tamara de Lempicka...
and Frida Kahlo in one show. (The Frida piece was so tiny -- only about 11 inches high!)
When you go, make time to really explore the exhibit if you can. SAM is also featuring women artists at the SAM Gallery, the Seattle Asian Art Museum, and the Olympic Sculpture Park as well. You have one month left to see it, so break out your calendar and make room for some amazing women.
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| Jenny Holzer, from The Survival Series |
When you go, make time to really explore the exhibit if you can. SAM is also featuring women artists at the SAM Gallery, the Seattle Asian Art Museum, and the Olympic Sculpture Park as well. You have one month left to see it, so break out your calendar and make room for some amazing women.