Southern California has been central to the emergence of femi-
nist art since the beginnings of the movement in the 1970s. The
development of feminism brought about a tremendous surge
of formal, ethnic, and geographic diversity to art in the region,
and gave rise to important works in a range of styles and media,
including mural, assemblage, photography, craft, conceptual art,
and performance. This burst of creativity was accompanied by a
decentralization of art production as numerous sites and collab-
oratives sprang up throughout the Southland: the Feminist Art
Program at CalArts in Valencia, the Woman’s Building in down-
town Los Angeles, the Watts Art Center in South Central, the
Chicana movement in East Los Angeles, and performance venues
across Southern California. By the end of the 1970s, feminism
had made a revolutionary impact on the modern art scene.
This panel brings together five distinguished artists—all of whom
made significant contributions to feminist art—to consider the
origin and legacy of the movement. The panelists include Eleanor
Antin, artist and professor emeritus, University of California, San
Diego; Barbara Carrasco, artist and muralist Maren Hassinger,
artist and director of the Rinehart School of Sculpture, Mary-
land Institute College of Art; Rachel Rosenthal, artistic director,
The Rachel Rosenthal Company; and Faith Wilding, artist and
founding member of subRosa, and associate professor of perfor-
mance, School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The moderator of
the program is Jori Finkel, journalist and regular contributor to
the New York Times.
This program is part of the Getty Research Institute’s (GRI) ongoing Mod-
ern Art in Los Angeles series, for which the Getty invites leading artists,
filmmakers, musicians, curators, and critics to discuss their contributions
to Southern California’s vibrant postwar art scene. The event is a collabo-
ration between the GRI and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Ange-
les (MOCA), and is held in conjunction with MOCA’s exhibition WACK! Art
and the Feminist Revolution, on view at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
through July 16, 2007.
Admission to this event is free. To attend, please make a reservation by vis-
iting www.getty.edu or calling (310) 440-7300. Note, late arrivals cannot
be guaranteed seating. Parking is $8.00 per car.
The Getty Research Institute is a program of the J. Paul Getty Trust. Other
programs of the Trust include the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Conser-
vation Institute, and the Getty Foundation.
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Eleanor Antin, Caught in the Act, 1973
Barbara Carrasco, Pregnant Woman in a
Ball of Yarn, 1978
Maren Hassinger, Legacy, 2007
Rachel Rosenthal, ca. 2000.
Photo: Martin Cohen
Faith Wilding, Crocheted Environment
(Womb Room), 1972. Installation at
Womanhouse, Los Angeles