It seems to me that most feminists of my youth , feminists who knew what they were up against, understood that the set-up of patriarchal society wasnt neccessarily interested in looking after the planet, in being " green". Judy Chicago is a bit older than me but we have a grave concern for our world in common.
The work most people know Chicago for is "The Dinner Party" which celebrated women through history at a banquet , a table with 3 sides, 39 place settings of embroideries and plates. This was typical of her collaborative work , there were 400 participants. It premiered in 1979 , travelled the world, and has pride of place in the Brooklyn Museum and I saw it there).
When I saw the "Herstory" retrospective in New York , November 2023 in the New Museum I was much taken by the "Birth Project" ( you know that was my job for 40 years?). In this series of 85 works . Combining painting with a range of needlework techniques the works present various aspects of labour, motherhood and creation ( including the pain) .Over / needleworkers participated and it travelled to libraries, community centres as well as galleries. It definetly spoke to me.
Chicago had a magnificent show last summer here in London at Serpentine North. I had seen her series made in 2013- "The End: a Meditation on Death and Extinction" in the New Museum- and here are some of those images I took with me as important. However in London she clearly asks us to hashtag "CreateArtforEarth" . It is a call to make our protest visible and create art that reflects our mutual commitment to stop the climate crisis and protect our planet. Well , thats me, happy to add to this story...and this is for our children and in time grandchildren.
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