Womanhouse
Encyclopedia
Womanhouse was a feminist art installation and performance space organized by Judy Chicago
and Miriam Schapiro
, co-founders of the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) Feminist Art Program. Chicago, Schapiro, their students and women artists from the local community participated. Chicago and Schapiro encouraged their students to use consciousness-raising techniques to generate the content of the exhibition. Each woman was given a room or space of her own in a 17-room mansion in Hollywood, California. http://as-ap.org/sider/resources.cfm
Only women were allowed to view the exhibition on its first day, after which the exhibition was open to all viewers. Chicago observed that on the first day, responses to the artwork were heightened, and on subsequent days responses were muted. During the exhibition's duration, it received approximately 10,000 visitors.
The initial idea to create Womanhouse was Paula Harper's,http://womanhouse.refugia.net/ she helped to conceptualize the project at the beginning. Later, the conception of Womanhouse continued as a topic for discussion in one of the class meetings. During the discussion, students asked what it would be like to work out one of their closest associative memories, the home, which as a culture of women have been identified with for centuries. It has been the place where women struggled to please others. The students wondered what the home would be like if they pleased no one but themselves as women and began the project.
The relationship between biology and social roles formed the foundation of Womanhouse. Most of the rooms replicated areas of the house while at the same time challenged the activity of that room and the meaning of that activity to women's self-image through creative exaggeration.
A 47-minute documentary film was made in 1974 about the project by Johanna Demetrakas, and is now available on video. Its European distribution is assured by le peuple qui manque
Judy Chicago
Judy Chicago is a feminist artist, author, and educator.Chicago has been creating artwork since the mid 1960s. Her earliest forays into the art world coincided with the rise of Minimalism, which she eventually abandoned in favor of art she believed to have greater content and relevance...
and Miriam Schapiro
Miriam Schapiro
Miriam Schapiro is a Canadian-born artist based in America. She is a pioneer of feminist art. She is also considered part of the Pattern and Decoration art movement....
, co-founders of the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) Feminist Art Program. Chicago, Schapiro, their students and women artists from the local community participated. Chicago and Schapiro encouraged their students to use consciousness-raising techniques to generate the content of the exhibition. Each woman was given a room or space of her own in a 17-room mansion in Hollywood, California. http://as-ap.org/sider/resources.cfm
Only women were allowed to view the exhibition on its first day, after which the exhibition was open to all viewers. Chicago observed that on the first day, responses to the artwork were heightened, and on subsequent days responses were muted. During the exhibition's duration, it received approximately 10,000 visitors.
Concept of Womanhouse
Chicago and Schapiro's teaching is based on group operation where twenty-one young women artists were elected to join this exclusively female class. The way of teaching is circular, "more womb-like," describes Schapiro. The primary concern was to provide a nourishing environment for growth. In the group, laws are based on mutual aesthetic consent to encourage and support artistic needs of the group. There are some unwritten laws regarding the appropriateness of subject matter for art making: dolls, pillows, cosmetics, sanitary napkins, silk stockings, underwear, children's toys, washbasins, toasters, frying pans, refrigerator, door handles, shower caps, quilts, and satin bedspread. The content of the project Womanhouse was to reverse this mythical thinking.The initial idea to create Womanhouse was Paula Harper's,http://womanhouse.refugia.net/ she helped to conceptualize the project at the beginning. Later, the conception of Womanhouse continued as a topic for discussion in one of the class meetings. During the discussion, students asked what it would be like to work out one of their closest associative memories, the home, which as a culture of women have been identified with for centuries. It has been the place where women struggled to please others. The students wondered what the home would be like if they pleased no one but themselves as women and began the project.
The relationship between biology and social roles formed the foundation of Womanhouse. Most of the rooms replicated areas of the house while at the same time challenged the activity of that room and the meaning of that activity to women's self-image through creative exaggeration.
A 47-minute documentary film was made in 1974 about the project by Johanna Demetrakas, and is now available on video. Its European distribution is assured by le peuple qui manque
Artists
Among the artists and CalArts students that collaborated werehttp://womanhouse.refugia.net/:- Beth Bachenheimer (Shoe Closet, Dining Room)
- Sherry Brody (Lingerie Pillows)
- Judy ChicagoJudy ChicagoJudy Chicago is a feminist artist, author, and educator.Chicago has been creating artwork since the mid 1960s. Her earliest forays into the art world coincided with the rise of Minimalism, which she eventually abandoned in favor of art she believed to have greater content and relevance...
(Menstruation Bathroom, Cock and Cunt Play) - Susan Frazier (Aprons in the Kitchen)
- Camille Grey (Lipstick Bathroom)
- Vicky Hodgett (Nurturant Kitchen)
- Kathy Huberland (Bridal Staircase)
- Judy Huddleston (Personal Environment)
- Janice Johnson
- Karen LeCocq (Leah's Room)
- Janice Lester (Personal Space)
- Paula Longendyke (Garden Jungle)
- Ann MillsAnn MillsAnn Mills was a British woman who disguised herself as a man in order to become a dragoon. In 1740 she fought on the frigate Maidenstone.-References:*...
(Leaf Room) - Carol Edison Mitchell
- Robin MitchellRobin MitchellRobin Mitchell, born in the village of Letham, Fife, Scotland on the 27th May 1963, is a Tour Guide, Writer and Film Producer.-Education:He attended Parkhill Primary School in Leven and Buckhaven High School. At Edinburgh Napier University, he studied Hotel Catering and Institutional Management...
(Painted Room, Dining Room) - Sandra Orgel (Linen Closet &Ironing)
- Jan Oxenburg
- Christine Rush (Necco Wafers)
- Marsha Salisbury
- Miriam SchapiroMiriam SchapiroMiriam Schapiro is a Canadian-born artist based in America. She is a pioneer of feminist art. She is also considered part of the Pattern and Decoration art movement....
(Doll’s House) - Robin Schiff (Nightmare Bathroom)
- Mira SchorMira SchorMira Schor is an American artist, writer, editor, and educator, known for her contributions to the critical discourse on the status of painting in contemporary art and culture as well as to feminist art history and criticism.-Early life and education:Mira Schor's parents Ilya and Resia Schor were...
(Red Moon Room) - Robin Weltsch (Nurturant Kitchen)
- Wanda Westcoast
- Faith WildingFaith WildingFaith Wilding is a Paraguayan-American multidisciplinary artist, writer and educator, widely known for her contribution to the progressive development of feminist art.Faith Wilding immigrated to the United States from Paraguay in 1961...
(Womb Room & Waiting) - Shawnee Wollenmann (The Nursery)
- Nancy Youdelman (Lea's Room)
External links
- Womanhouse Website
- Womanhouse tribute show at Momenta Art
- Womanhouse.
- A Brief History of Women, Art and Gender.
- WOMANHOUSE: Cradle of Feminist Art.
- Womanhouse by Johanna Demetrakas (1974, 47 min) film in distribution @ le peuple qui manque