Generative Disruption: Feminist Art from the Collection is an exhibition that brings together art made from the 1990s to today, largely from the Linda Pace Collection, to show how the ideas of 1960s and ’70s feminist artists still shape art now. Rather than experiencing a historical survey of feminist art, the exhibition instead invites viewers to explore a focused look at how those early ideas continue to inspire artists working today.
In the 1960s and ’70s, feminist artists pushed back against the male-dominated art world of their time. Excluded from movements like, Abstract Expressionist and Minimalist, these artists turned to their own lives for inspiration as they began exploring home life, the body, sexuality, and the pressures women faced. In doing so, they expanded what art could be about, paving the way for today’s artists to tackle race, sexuality, social justice, and bodily autonomy just as directly. Artists in this show including, Laura Aguilar, Nicole Eisenman, Wangechi Mutu, Sue Williams, and the collaborative team of Kadambari Baxi, Maureen Connor, and Landon Newton, reflect just how wide-ranging this work has become.
Early feminist artists also embraced materials long considered “lesser” in the art world by creating works with things like fiber, textiles, found objects, ceramics, and embroidery. Using them was both personal and political, a way to reclaim materials associated with women’s work and demand they be taken seriously as fine art. Today, artists like Olga de Amaral, Annette Messager, and Bettie Ward continue working in these materials, proving how fully they’ve earned their place. Video also appealed to early feminist artists as it had no established history or association, therefore it was a wide-open space in which they could make their own. Artists in the exhibition, Nao Bustamante, Mona Hatoum, and Aïda Ruilova, use video today to examine how women have been treated throughout history, in everyday life, and in the media.
The exhibition also includes works by male artists to highlight that feminist perspective and thinking is not limited to women as it offers tools anyone can use to explore gender roles, expectations, and inequality in their own lives.
The disruptions started by early feminist artists opened up new territory that artists are still exploring and building on today. Generative Disruption illustrates how what was once considered marginal is now central to how contemporary artists think about identity, the body, and the materials they use to explore them.