Judy Chicago

Three tickets arrived in the mail yesterday for the Judy Chicago event in Toronto on February 12 and I've made a date to attend with our two youngest daughters. I'm looking forward to a few days in the big city so that I can take in some art exhibits at the textile museum and the newly renovated art gallery of Ontario. Judy Chicago has made a real difference to art history and it should be really interesting to hear her speak with Maura Reilly and Jenni Sorkin.

From very early on (age 5 or 1o) I set my sights upon becoming the kind of artist who would make a contribution to art history. I developed an “oppositional gaze”. I knew that I did not wish to become the object of the male gaze – I wanted to do the gazing and the painting. It is crucial to understand that one of the ways in which the importance of male experience is conveyed is through the art objects that are exhibited and preserved in our museums. Whereas men experience presence in our art institutions, women experience primarily absence, except in images that do not necessarily reflect women’s own sense of themselves.”

Therefore, since the early 70’s, I have been on a path whose goal has been to bring female experience into the very mainstream of art history – and not as an add on.
Judy Chicago