art history

My ultimate empowered female art heroine is a woman who made a career for herself long before the word "feminist" was in use. Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1652/3) is a force to be reckoned with, taught by her father Orazio and following in the footsteps of fellow Italian, Caravaggio. She stood out not only because of her incredible talent, but also the obstacles she overcame in her personal life to make a career out of painting.

[Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Beheading Holofernes, c.1613-14]

Feminism and art aren't as closely linked as they should be, but I want to change that. Too many women are excluded from being called "the great artists," as if we require a separate category. Well, I want to give Bitch readers and art lovers everywhere a reason to celebrate strong females in the art world.

"Swim 2" from "16 Portraits" by Chris Rush Professor Ann M. Fox and Jessica Cooley have now curated two art shows addressing disability. The first, Re/Formations featured five women artists exploring the intersections of female identity and disability through sculpture. More recently, they wrapped up STARING, which was based off of the book Staring: How We Look by Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, one of the leading scholars in disability studies. The works in STARING address issues of representation, visibility, and empowerment....not unlike feminism. It featured artwork from Doug Auld and Chris Rush, among others. Transcript available for download