Press release for "Doin' It in Public: Feminism and Art at the Woman's Building"

              PRESS CONTACT: Sheri Mobley 323 668-0874
smobley@mobleymarketing.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Doin’ It in Public: Feminism and Art at the Woman’s Building
Opens to the Public October 1 at Otis College’s Ben Maltz Gallery
Exhibition Explores the Work and World of Feminist Artists, Art Collectives
at the Los Angeles Woman’s Building from 1973-1991
Exhibition, Programs and Publications in Collaboration with
Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980
LOS ANGELES – September 15, 2011 - The much-anticipated exhibition, Doin’ It in Public: Feminism and Art at the Woman’s Building, opens October 1 at the Ben Maltz Gallery on the main campus of Otis College of Art and Design. Along with historical ephemera and documentation, the show surveys the work of groundbreaking feminist artists/designers and artist collectives who gathered together at the Los Angeles Woman’s Building from 1973 through 1991. The exhibition’s opening reception and publication launch is expected to draw many of the artists who pioneered the feminist art movement in Los Angeles and beyond. Artist Linda Vallejo will enact a collaborative opening ceremony that recalls the legacy of the Woman's Building community. Vallejo’s art performance will be followed by The Waitresses, a performance art group formed in 1977 by artists who were also waitresses, as well as graduates of the Feminist Studio Workshop at the Woman’s Building. And renowned feminist artist and Woman’s Building co-founder Judy Chicago will make a personal appearance and sign books at the opening reception October 1, 4pm-7pm.
Doin’ It in Public is on view October 1 through January 28, 2012. Admission and parking are free.
Doin’ It in Public is part of Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980. This unprecedented collaboration, initiated by the Getty, brings together more than sixty cultural institutions from across Southern California for six months beginning October 2011 to tell the story of the birth of the L.A. art scene.
The feminist art movement of the 1970s set off an explosion of art-making and analysis that continues to reverberate in the art world today, and the Woman's Building (WB) in Los Angeles was one of its epicenters. In 1973, artist Judy Chicago, graphic designer Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, and art historian Arlene Raven founded the WB, and for over two decades it helped shape the regional and international cultural landscapes. Through extensive public performances, site-specific work, networking with political activists, and collaborations, the feminist art movement at the WB raised consciousness, invited dialogue, and transformed culture. The WB handed women their rightful claim to the role of “artist.” It inspired and allowed members to create a community of women who saw art as a powerful tool for social change, and shared this vision with the public. A listing of the artists featured in Doin’ It in Public, including Miriam Schapiro, Faith Wilding, Betye Saar, and Suzanne Lacy, can be found at www.otis.edu/benmaltzgallery.
Exhibitions such as WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution, 1965-1980, (MOCA, Los Angeles, 2007); Catalog L.A.: Birth of Art Capital: 1955-1985 (Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2006); and Sexual Politics: Judy Chicago's Dinner Party in Feminist Art (Hammer Museum, 1996) positioned the WB within the West Coast feminist art movement. This exhibition is the first to fully explore the contributions of the Woman’s Building in its widest ramifications.