Why Judy Chicago Still Fights for Feminist Art at 75

Chicago native Judy Cohen Gerowitz became Judy Chicago in 1970 for many reasons. One was to throw off her father’s and husband’s names and the male dominance behind that practice. Another, as shown in the now famous Jerry McMillan photo announcing her breakout exhibition at California State University, Fullerton, was to prove her willingness to fight for her rights, as shown by her donning boxing gloves, entering a ring, and staring down the camera with a pugilist’s “eye of the tiger.” Nearly half a century later, Judy Chicago’s still fighting in the public arena for hers and every woman’s rights to equality both of artistic expression and full expression of their humanity. Set to celebrate her 75^th birthday this July, Judy Chicago (shown above) finds herself the subject of numerous retrospective shows.  But never one to rest on her laurels, Chicago also comes out swinging with not one but two books that not only look back at her achievements as an artist and educator, but also point forward to how the feminist fight rages on and what winning the next rounds and, ultimately, the battle for equality will involve. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Why Judy Chicago Still Fights for Feminist Art at 75."

Work in Progress

One of the biggest criticisms of contemporary art is that it has no connection to the community. These works seemingly exist in a vacuum with no ties to the people who may not necessarily consider themselves art lovers. With its NEW FRONTIERS: Series for Contemporary Art, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art looks to bring contemporary art to the contemporary public, beginning with the work of New York City-based sculptor Jason Peters in Jason Peters, Anti.Gravity.Material.Light. Please venture over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Work in Progress."

[Image: Sculpture by Jason Peters from 2008.]

[Many thanks to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art for providing me with the image above for the exhibition Jason Peters, Anti.Gravity.Material.Light, which runs from January 28 through April 11, 2010.]

Higher Education

If you’re looking for new places to learn more about art, you can go back to school virtually through ArtCareer.net’s 100+ Awesome Open Courseware Links for Artists. MIT, Rice University, and Open University are just some of the institutions of higher learning offering free courses online in photography, sculpture, art, and art history for everyone from the interested beginner to the studio artist. The rub, of course, of stumbling across such a mother lode of education opportunity is finding the time to mine it. Many thanks to the people at ArtCareer.net for assembling this great list of links to free, high-quality instruction.