An interview of Judy Chicago conducted 2009 August 7 and 8, by Judith Olch Richards, for the Archives of American Art, at Chicago's home and studio, in Belen, New Mexico.
Chicago speaks of her work since the late 1980s, having previously discussed her early life and works; printmaking projects with various print studios around the country; giving archived documents to important museums; creating a foundation with her husband Donald Woodman to protect the legacy of their art; the non-profit organization she started in 1978, Through the Flower; her studio practices and her most practiced techniques; keeping a regular schedule; her interest in collaborative projects such as The Dinner Party [1974-1979], the Birth Project [1980-1985], the Holocaust Project [1985-1993] and Resolutions: A Stitch in Time [1994-2000]; working with various textile and glass artists; feeling a kin with other female artists, like Nikki de Saint Phalle and Marisol Escobar; the responsibility she feels to share underrepresented information; her enjoyment of the process of making art and the hope that she creates art that is not bound by time; her relationships with galleries though the years including the ACA Galleries in New York and LewAllen Contemporary in Santa Fe; her intention in making art was not create proactive or controversial art; various teaching positions; her interest in combining text and images in works like Song of Songs [1997-1999]; her more current interest in glass; experimenting with the techniques of casting and etching to achieve her desired images; her want to change institutional policies that underrepresent women artists in museums and the absence of images of women by women artists. Chicago also recalls Henry Hopkins, Mary Ross Taylor, Susannah Rodee, John Bullard, Jack Lemon, Alice Neel, Edward Lucie-Smith, John Copeland, Harold Rosenberg, Carolee Schneemann, Jeffery Bergen, Audrey Flack, Joan Semmel, Nancy Youdelman, David McFadden, Viki Thomson Wylder, Tom Pruitt, Arlene LewAllen, Flo Perkins, Norman and Ruth Dobbins, Karen LaMonte, Lu Jie and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Interviewee Judy Chicago (1939- ) is a feminist artist and author who lives and works in Belen, New Mexico. Interviewer Judith Olch Richards (1947- ) is former executive director of iCI in New York, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 compact discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 40 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Occupation:
Installation artists -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Performance artists -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Sculptors -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Judy Chicago, 2009 August 7-8. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Records of the Grandview Cooperative Art Gallery and the women's artist group Double X, Los Angeles, annotated throughout by group member Mary Kenon Breazeale.
Grandview Cooperative Art Gallery records include minutes, financial records, and copies of letters sent to members, 1973-1975. Records of Double X include documents regarding its foundation, incorporation, grant applications with summaries of the group's history, statements of purpose, and some general incoming and outgoing correspondence. Group events are documented through mailers for viewing slides of member's work, notices of lectures, and notes and questionnaires for proposed exhibitions and seminars.
The involvement of Double X in the Los Angeles art community is briefly documented, and the records also include a copy of BY OUR OWN HANDS: THE WOMEN ARTIST'S MOVEMENT IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, 1970-1976, published by Double X in 1977, with related correspondence and notes, a poster by Nancy Buchanan, and 8 tapes and transcriptions of interviews conducted by Mary Kenon Breazeale of Double X members Nancy Buchanan, Connie Jenkins, Mary Jones, Carol Kaufman, Vaughan Rachel, Sharon Shore, Cynthia Upchurch, and Nancy Youdelman.
Biographical / Historical:
Double X was a Los Angeles women's artist group, active from 1975-1985, which promoted the work of feminist artists through exhibition and public outreach activities. They organized temporary shows of their work, slide viewings of member's work, lectures and discussion groups. Many of the members of Double X had originally been participants in the Grandview Cooperative Art Gallery, Los Angeles, which was open from 1973-1975.
Provenance:
The donors, Mary Kenon Breazeale and Cynthia Upchurch, were members of the Grandview Cooperative Art Gallery and Double X. Breazeale interviewed members of Double X, and these interviews are also a part of the records.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Nancy Youdelman : fashioning a feminist vision : 1972-2017 : Fresno Art Museum, May 20 - August 27, 2017 / curated by Michele Ellis Pracy ; introduction by Judy Chicago ; essay by Gail Levin
