Une avant-garde féministe

Their works are provocative, radical, poetic or ironic… Presenting the work of 64 women artists, this book reveals how, in the 1970s, they took control of female representation in photography, video and performance art.

By drastically changing the perception of women in art, and going against the traditional projection of male fantasies, these artists have created a new “image of women”. The book, through five main themes (Housewives, Mothers, Wives; Enclosure/Evasion; Beauty Dictates/Female Bodies; Female Sexuality; Identity/Role Play), presents a wide variety of works, which in turns denounce sexism, social inequalities or the structures of patriarchy.

The curator and founder of the Sammlung Verbund Collection, Gabriele Schor, refers to this pivotal moment as the “feminist avant-garde”, underlining the pioneering role played by those artists who rejected what had always gone before. Giving birth to new modes of expression in all artistic fields, they carried an emancipatory voice that continues to inspire the contemporary generation to this day.

Artists featured in the book : Helena Almeida, Sonia Andrade, Eleanor Antin, Anneke Barger, Lynda Benglis, Renate Bertlmann, Tomaso Binga, Dara Birnbaum, Marcella Campagnano, Judy Chicago, Veronika Dreier, Orshi Drozdik, Lili Dujourie, Mary Beth Edelson, Renate Eisenegger, VALIE EXPORT, Esther Ferrer, Marisa Gonzalez, Eulalia Grau, Barbara Hammer, Leeson Lynn Hershman, Alexis Hunter, Sanja Ivekovic, Birgit Jürgenssen, Kirsten Justesen, Kutera Anna, Ketty La Rocca, Leslie Labowitz, Suzanne Lacy, Katalin Ladik, Suzy Lake, Natalia LL, Léa Lublin, Karin Mack, Ana Mendieta, Annette Messager, Rita Myers, Senga Nengudi, Lorraine O’Grady, ORLAN, Gina Pane, Ewa Partum, Friederike Pezold, Margot Pilz, Howardena Pindell, Angels Ribé, Ulrike Rosenbach, Martha Rosler, Brigitte Roth, Victoria Santa Cruz, Suzanne Santoro, Carolee Schneeman, Lydia Schouten, Elaine Shemilt, Cindy Sherman, Penny Slinger, Annegret Soltau, Gabriele Stötzer, Regina Vater, Marianne Wex, Wilke Hannah, Martha Wilson, Francesca Woodman, Nil Yalter.