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What is Feminist Art?

Online-Archive of American Art-Smithsonian

November 26, 2019–December 31, 2021

Installation view: What is Feminist Art?, 2019, Lawrence A Fleischman Gallery, Washington, D.C

Installation view: What is Feminist Art?, 2019, Lawrence A Fleischman Gallery, Washington, D.C

Installation view: What is Feminist Art?, 2019, Lawrence A Fleischman Gallery, Washington, D.C

Installation view: What is Feminist Art?, 2019, Lawrence A Fleischman Gallery, Washington, D.C

Installation view: What is Feminist Art?, 2019, Lawrence A Fleischman Gallery, Washington, D.C

Installation view: What is Feminist Art?, 2019, Lawrence A Fleischman Gallery, Washington, D.C

Installation view: What is Feminist Art?, 2019, Lawrence A Fleischman Gallery, Washington, D.C,  

Installation view: What is Feminist Art?, 2019, Lawrence A Fleischman Gallery, Washington, D.C

 

Harmony Hammond response to "What is Feminist Art?", between 1976 and 1977. Woman's Building records, 1970-1992. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. 

Harmony Hammond response to "What is Feminist Art?", between 1976 and 1977. Woman's Building records, 1970-1992. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. 

Harmony Hammond response to "What is Feminist Art?", between 1976 and 1977. Woman's Building records, 1970-1992. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Harmony Hammond response to "What is Feminist Art?", between 1976 and 1977. Woman's Building records, 1970-1992. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

The original call for submissions that was mailed out for the 1977 iteration of "What is Feminist Art?"

The original call for submissions that was mailed out for the 1977 iteration of "What is Feminist Art?"

Press Release

Harmony Hammond included in group exhibiton What is Feminist Art? at Lawrence A. Fleischman Gallery in Washington, D.C.

The institution's press release follows: 

In 1977, feminist activists Ruth Iskin, Lucy Lippard, and Arlene Raven organized an exhibition centered on the question, “What is Feminist Art?” They invited artists to answer this question on a letter-sized piece of paper. Hundreds of artists responded in the form of collage, manifestos, drawings, and prints, providing a snapshot of the ongoing conversations around feminism in the United States. 

In 2019, the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art asked this same question, “What is Feminist Art?” to some of the same women who responded in 1977, as well as a new group of artists to capture the current response.  

On view are more than 75 responses from then and now. These personal statements are vibrant and varied, elucidating the contours of feminist art by complicating its origins, calling out its failures, and celebrating its achievements. 

This exhibition was organized by the Archives of American Art with funding from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative.