An InlrodUoCtioo

c hapte r 1

OTHER VISIONS , OTHER VOICES: AN INTRODUCTION

lbe 15 women featured in OTHER VISIONS. OTHER VOICES have made

power ful and enduring contributions to contemporary socially conscious art
Th eir visual efforts have engaged and challenged audiences throughout the
reg ion and the nation, encouraging thousands of people to reflect critically
about major social and political themes of the late 20th century. Th ey have
forged a vibrant community of artistic resistance in the Los Angeles area, solid-
ifying its reputation as a ce nter of cultu ral ferment and opposition.
Th eir artistic excellence and thematic versatility merit extensive sc holarly
attention and wide public exposure. Full understanding of their work requires a
deepe r recognition of the many ar t histori cal traditions from which they
emerge. It also demands knowledge of the immense barri ers they have over-
come in establishing identities and careers as women political artists opposing
dominant values and institutions-impediments that continue to affect all arti sts
sharing this vision.
Above all, their efforts must be viewed in the broade r backgro und of cen-
turies of pervasive sexism in the Western world, ensuring women's isolation in
all professional, intellectual, creative, and techni cal fields. Until recentl y, women
lawyers, physicians, scientists, carpenters, scholars, engineers , filmmakers,
politicians, electricians, airline pilots. and business executives (among many
other occupations) have been extremely rar e. Even now. institutional resistance
to women remains strong, with many males still responding to women col-
leagues with hostility and suspicion. Sexist attitudes and practices pers ist deeply
thr oughout soc iety, sometimes only tangentially responsive to legal challenges
and organized protest.
In the arts. this ar range ment has elevated the contributions of male "stars"
and ignored or denigrated the accomplishments of women in painting, sculp-
ture, printmaking. and other crea tive forms. Although women have been active
and influential in every ar tistic medium, their contributions have received scant
attention from male scholars and critics. During most of this century, the major
ar t histor y textbooks have. at best, mentioned a few women ar tists in passing,
often employing patronizing language that reinforces historical distortion and
misleads public perception. Th e ar tists in OTHER VISIONS. OTHER VOICES
themselves grew up in this atmos pher e of suppression, learning little about
their female pred ecessors and discovering few ar tistic role models to admir e
and emulate. As students and later as practicing visual artists. they have found
alterna tive sources of knowledge about the hidden heritage that has informed
so much of their lives and their work.
Marglnallty and Feminist Agitation
Th e ce ntral catalyst for this empowe rme nt was the feminist movem en t of the
late 1960s to the prese nt Earlier waves of European and Ameri can fem inist agi-
tation made significant advances in creating political. social, and economic
opportunities for women in the face of massive patriarchal power. Major
American intellectual and cultural institutions, however, managed to avoid seri-
ous change until the final decades of this century. Universities and museum s
continued to employ white men to document and validate the artistic accom-
plishments of other white men . Everythi ng else was the "other," the Quaint
prod ucts of women and eth nic minorities. occasionally relegated to specialists
in folklore for token presenta tion that only deepened their essential marginali- .
ty.
The broader ambiance of 60s and 70s social protest had deeper. more positive
consequences for inteUectual inquiry. Feminist consc iousness compleme nted
the civil rights str ugg les of African Americans, Latinos, and Asians, encourag-
ing women scho lars to recapture long negl ected histories of wome n in ever y
human enterprise. In women 's studies programs and in each established acad-
emic disc ipline, femini st scholars made effective, long overdue critiques of male
hegemony. In the visual arts, major publications highlighted the lives and works
of women artists, detai ling how they functioned in adverse social and cultural
circums tances . Many of these werks have involved extensive surveys of women
arti sts, providing a corrective art histor y to conventional excl usionary text s that
have en dure d for generations ." Others have been specific treatm ents of indi-
vidual wome n arti sts or moveme nts that have included neglected female repre-
se ntation and participation. These pionee ring efforts have inspired students and
ar tists alike . Th ey have paved the way for younger women ar tists to claim and
augment a heritage that locates and legitimates their un ique visual contribu-
tions.
The wome n represented in th e present book draw heavily on their newly dis-
covered artistic ancestors. As th eir individual chapters reveal, they regularly
ackn owledge technical and emotional influences from the past women artists
whose stories of hardship and triumph have em erged from recent femini st
scholarship and criticism. Pro udly identifying as women artists, they str ugg le to
conso lidate and take personal advantag e of the modest gains of recent decades.
For them, "otherness" is no historical remnant or abstraction. Even in the
19905, women artists carry extra burden s, often facing unexpre ssed bu t re lent-

• Some of the best recent surveys of women artists include Eleanor Tufts. Our Hidden
Heritage: Fwe Centuries of Women Ar tists (19 74) ; Ann Sutherland Harris and linda Nochlin,
Women Artists : 15 50-1950 (1976); Karen Petersen and J. J. Wilson , Women Artists: Recognition
and Reappraisal From the Early Middle Ages to the Twentie th century (19 76) ; Elsa Honig Fine.
Kbmen and Art: A His tory of Women Painters and SCulptors From the Renaissance to the
Twentieth Century (1978): Germaine Greer. The Obstacle Race: The Fortunes of Women Painters
and Their Worlr (19 79); Eleanor Munro, Orig inals: American Women Artists (19 79); Charlotte
Streifer Rubinstein. American Women Artists :From Early Indian Tunes to the Present (198 2):
Nancy Heller. Women Artists : An Illustrated HistOfy (1987 ); Whitney Chadwick, Women. Arts. and
Sociery (1990); and Betty laDuke. Women Artists: Mufticultural Visions (1992).
 An IntrodlK:lion 3

less requirements to be better than their male counterparts merely to qualify for
equal treatment All too regularly, they encounter se xist attitud es and institu-
tional and marketplace actions that inhibit their fullest creative development and
recognition.
The artists of OTIIER VISIONS, OTIIER VOICES, moreover, face a double
burden of neglect and disparagement Th ey are acutely aware that artists
expressing social and political criticism in their works stand apar t from the ar t
world mainstream. Th ey know that socially conscious artists rarely achieve the
recognition and economic oppor tunities accorded to their more conventional
contemporaries. Th ey observe scholars and critics, even now in a postmodern
cultural universe, continuing to insinuate that art and politics do not mix-or at
least do not mix well. Th ey experience rejection from muse ums and galleries
that dismiss their efforts as too trenchant or that claim inadeq uate audiences for
their creative products. And like many of their predecessors over the ce nturies,
they encounter repeated atte mpts to censo r and suppress their ar t. In shor t,
they have suffered the professional conseq uences of the real American political
correc tness, the rarely acknowledged conse rvative or thodoxy that has pervad-
ed soc ial and cultural affairs for many generations.

Socially Conscious Art

Th ey have broadened their discovery of the hidd en heritage of women in art
by also identifying themselves with the long tradition of socially conscious art.
Th ey have likewise found a difficult search for their spiritual roots in this tradi-
tion. Like women artists throughout history, political artists have been under-
represented in the conventional art histor y literature. Ever resourceful, the
.....omen arti sts of the present book have sought alternative sources to discover
the historical roots of their own visual work. Progressive trend s in scholarship
and criticism, foster ed too by the soc ial protest culture of the 60s and 70s, have
identified and celebrated many of the key figures of political art in Europe and
the United States over the centuries . Recent major sur veys" and individual trea-
tises alike have facilitated the efforts of contemporar y political artists to locate
themselves within the specific tradition that has sustained and influenced their
work.
Extremely familiar with the major male figures of that tradition, they vigor-
ously acknowledge their historical significance and perso nal impact. Political ar t
luminaries including Francisco Goya (1746-1828), Honore Daumier (1808-1879) ,
Georges Rouault (1871-1958), John Heartfield (1891-1968), George Grosz (1893-

" see. (Of eQlTlple, Ralph $hikes. The IndigrtlKlt Eye (1969 ); Barr y Schwartz . The New
Humanism (191 4); Paul IJoo Blum . The Art of Social Conscience (19 76); Paul IJoo Blum . The
Critical Vision: A His tory of Social and Political Art in the U.S. (198 2): Robert Philippe , Political
Graphics: Art 8S 8 ~8POl'I (1982 ): Philip s. Foner and Reinhard Schultz , The Other America: Art
and the Lltbour Afo\.oement in the United States (1 985); and Deborah Wye, Commmed to Print:
SocIal and PoIitical1hemes in Recent AmerlcBn Printed Art (1988).
 Figure 1-1 Kathe KoUwitz. "Outbreak· Etc hing from "The Peasant War·

1958), Diego Rivera (1886-1957), Jose Clemente Orozco (1883-1949), David

Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974), Ben Shahn (1898-1969), William Gropper (1897-
1978), Jacob Lawrence (1917- ), and hundreds of others have established social
commentary and criticism as a major theme in the entire history of ar t Almost
all contemporary political artists of either gender, including the subjects of this
book, appr eciate the magnificent contributions of these men .
Less well known (and pred ictably even more difficult to discover) is the exten-
sive and powerful record of women political ar tists. Within the historical corn-
muni ty of socially consc ious artists, wome n participan ts have iro nically
remained the "othe r," ig nored by mainstream critics and often by th eir political-
Iy sympathe tic male colleagues. The ar tists in OTHER VISIONS, OTHER VOIC-
ES eme rge most d irectly from one of the most hidde n historical heritages of all,
the long tradition of women artists who , in their lives and works alike, have
refused to remain indifferent to the social and political issu es of their times.
A review of some highli gh ts of this tradition establishes the most precise con-
text for an understanding of what follows throughout the remainder of the book.
 s

Fc:ure 1-2 Lucienne Bloch. ·Childhood" Mural

Virtually eve ry co nte mporar y woman political artist speaks passionately about
Germ an graph ic artist and sculptor Kathe Kollwitz (I 867-1945) . Of all the
wome n socially co nscious artists in Europe, Kollwitz i proba bly the most well
kno wn an d the most spec ifically influential. Throughout he r entire life. her art-
work included sympathetic portrayals of working class people and the poor,
striking descriptions of the car nage and insanity of war, an d moving dep ictions
of mothers, widows. and political activists. Her 1903 etching entitled "Outbreak"
(Figure 1-1), from her series "The Peasant War," is one of th e earliest images of
a dynamic woman leader in a major historic str uggle for social and economic
ju lice. This effor t joins hundred s of he r other works in co ntinuing to inspire
women artists throughout the world.
The Ame rican tradition of wome n political artists reinforces a sense of a co m-
mon cultural heritage for the artists in thi s book and for their women conte m-
poraries th rougho ut the countr y, Near the turn of the centur y, an era of enor-
mous economic and social cha nge, th e key movem ent in soc ial ar t was the ash-
can school, modeled on the social theories of artist Robe rt Hen ri. Althoug h the
major male ar tists of th at schoo l are well known, few recogn ize the effor ts of
Mary Abasten ia SL Lege r Ebe rle (1878-1942) , whose bronzes about life in New
York slu ms co ntributed to th e vital current of social criticism in that real istic tra-
dition. An energetic su ffrag ette , she augmented her art with a keen co mm it-
ment to political activis m th roughout her life.
The Great Depression also spawned a power ful s train of social criticis m in
American art, The paintings and prints of Elizabe th Olds (1896-1991) , Mari an
Greenwood (1909-1980), Lucienne Bloch (1909- ) and other women added
 Figure 1-3 Dorothea lange, "Migrant Mother- Photograph. The Oakland Museum

impressive political artworks to those of Shahn, Gropper and many others

thr oughout that turbulent era. A political leftist, Olds worked vigorously to
democratize the visual arts. Her inexpensive. farge-edition silkscreen prints and
lithograph s were designed to attract audiences of average citizens worried
about the crisis in the U.S. economy and society. Her efforts focused on numer-
ous social themes and included a significant feminist consciousness. Women
 7

ar tists today ex press similar political themes and commitments to publi c art in
ways uniq uely appropriate to their own times and places.
Greenwood and Bloch were early pioneers of socially engaged mural art.
Greenwood spe nt s ubstan tial time in Mexico, crea ting leftist mu rals and work-
ing with the major mural figures of the mu ral ren aissance th ere. In the Unite d
States, she painted murals fo r the government, occasionally encountering
official demands to tone her work down. a reflection of the long pattern of cen-
sorship directed agains t politically critical visu al artists .
Bloch worked as an assistant to Diego Rivera. mastering the fresco technique
she has passed on to younge r American muralists. In 1933, Bloch worked with
Rivera on his famous New York "Man at the Cro ssroa ds" mural . ultima tely
destro yed by th e Rockefeller fam ily in respon se to its radical imager y an d co n-
tent. Working for th e Fed eral Art Project in 1935, she painted a mu ral tor wom en
prisoners in the New York House of Det en tion . Anticipating Ole comm unity
involvement that characterizes conte mporary socia l mura ls, s he co ns ulted with
the priso ners du ring the project, so liciting and inco rpo rating their ideas into her
mural. Th e resul t was a panel entitled "Childhoo d" (Figu re 1-2), especially
notable because it portrayed black and white children playing together, a co n-
troversial conception at the time. This theme of racial harmony and solidarity
would appear decades later in hundred s of mu rals through out the countr y.
Two other women realist painters of that generation also produced wor ks
with strong social th emes and undercurren ts . Alice Neel (19QO.1984) and Isobel
Bishop (1902-1988) painted portrai ts and street scenes revealing profound
insights about society an d personality. Both arti sts encounte red powerfu l obsta-
cles to their ar tistic work, causing severe emotional conseque nces at vario us
intervals of their lives. Among the finest Ameri can ar tists of th e twentieth cen-
tury, their full recognition e merged only after Ole gains of th e women's move-
ment of the 60s and 70s, despite their decades of prolific ar tis tic accomplish-
ments. Their humanistic them es and personal resilience in th e face of sexism
and critical neglect h ave similarly inspi red a younger gen eration of socially co n-
scio us women artists.
Th e works of women documentary photographers of that era added another
notable dimension to the histor y of women 's political art in America. Among many
others, Dorothea Lange (1895-1965) and Margaret Bourke-White (190IH 971) made
visual conbi butions compara ble in statur e to those of the finest socially conscious
painters, printmakers, and scu lptors. Lange's ability to record the public and private
agonies of the dislocation of the 30s and 405 made her a premier figure in the entire
history of photography. Capturing the human featu res of social turmoil and distress,
her efforts reflected a major theme of soc ially consc ious art throu ghout the ages.
Her 1936 classic imag e entitled "Migrant Mother" (Figure 1-3) recalls the graphic
works of Kathe Kollwitz in expressi ng compassion for marginal people struggling
to endure against tremendo us odds. likewise. Bourke-White invigorated American
photojourn alism with power ful images of poverty, cruelty in the criminal justice sys-
tem, the evils of apar theid. and many other social and political themes.
•

8 Other VisiollS, Other Voices

The African American

Tradition
African American women ar tists
too have served as powerful role
models for contemporary women
artists. The significant ar tworks
created by these women have
been little recognized or under-
stood, adding a racial element to
the "othern ess" shared by all
female political artists in American
history. Augusta Savage (1900-
1962) produced sculptures that
highlighted the cultural and intel-
lectual achievemen ts of African
Americans, a theme of enormous
value to the broader str uggles for
racial justice and dignity. Over-
coming strong racism and sexism,
she also assisted other African
American artists in making ~fr
own contributions to the nation's
cultural life. Lois Mailou Jones
(1905- ) has similarly been a
strong figure in promoting her
people's ar t. Many of her own
paintin gs reflected her deep
appreciation of her African roots,
anoth er message of striking polit-
ical significance.
Elizabeth Catlett (1915- ) has
continued this emerging African Figure 1-4 Elizabeth Catlett, "Homage to My Young
B!ack Sisters" Sculpture in wocx:l 71" high
American tradition by maintaining
a dynamic political perspective in her art th rough out her entire caree r. A sculp-
tor and printm aker of the highest quality, her themes have included moth ers
and children, African American heroes, civil rights and black power move-
men ts, oppression in Chile, and many others. Her 1969 feminist Afrocentric
sculpture in wood, "Homage to My Young Black Sisters" (Figu re 1-4), reflects
the militant thrust of her artistic work for more than 50 years. Equally impor-
tant, it reveals again the value of linking individual artistic production to a broad-
er community sharing similar goals and common social values .
Many younger African American women ar tists have created ar tworks in the
same vein, adding their unique mark to the hidden heritage that facilitates a deep-
er appreciation of the works of the women of OTHER VISIONS, OTHERVOICES.
 Nt lntroduetiorl
•

F;pn 1-5 FeIth Rtre*t. ihe Aas B BIeedrC" Oil on e<n'aS 72· l( 96- . Coo1esydthe artist.

Los Angeles arti st Betrye Saar (1926-), for example, has used her art to attack
stereotypical portrayals of African Americans as part of a broader critique of
Western values and imagery. Her transformation of Aunt Jemima from a con-
ventional "mammy" to a gun-wielding revolutionary is a classic of anti-racist.
anti-sexist visual art. Faith Ringgold (1934-) has been a leader in feminist and
political ar t for many decad es. Her pointed visual attacks on racism complement
her vigorous advocacy for women. Her 1967 painting "The Flag is Bleeding"
(Figu re 1-5) was one of the most notable of tho se tumu ltuous times. Her ve rsa-
tile ar tistic forms include paintings , soft scu lptures. and quilts. Saar and
Ringgold both continue their socially conscious work, constantly inspiring their
younge r colleagues of all eth nicities to persist despite the inevitable advers ity of
the ir calling.

Feminist Art and Alternative Institutions

From the mid-twentieth century to the present. still other women arti sts have
pursued a critical political vision with direct implications for women continuing
that tradition in the present. Among many othe rs. notable representatives
include Ruth Gikow (l 91~1 982), whose entire career was devoted to visual com-
mentary about the dignity of labor, str uggles for civil righ ts, opposition to the
~ -

10 Other V~ns. Other Voices

Figure 1-6 Maysteens. "Big Daddy Draped " Acrylic 77" x 611/2". CoIIectioo of the artist

war, excessive American consumption, and related themes; Corita Kent (1918-
1986), a form er nun whose life-affirming images about numerous social issues
compleme nted her inspira tional leadership of th e art department at Immaculate
Heart College in Los Angeles; Honore Sharrer (l92Q.- ), whose painted tributes
 n

to American working people are class ics of the gen re; May Stevens (1924- ),
whose works have embodied satire, social protest , and femini sm for more than
40 years, including her highly regarded and provocative "Big Daddy" series
attac king patriarchal values and dom ination (figure 1-6) ; and Nancy Spero
(1926- ) . whose long artistic caree r has included visu al attacks on violen ce
against women, opposition 1'0 the war in Viet nam. and suppor t of revolutionary
change in Nicaragua.
Th e fem inist ar t movement of the 19705 served as the most immediate cata-
lyst for th e works that follow in s ubsequent chapters. Women artists in larg e
numbers rebelled again st the historic pattern of exclusion and neglec t by crea t-
ing alternative institutions and radical departu res in visu al form and co nlenL A
new feminist conscious ness. stimulated by majo r books by Betty Friedan.
Germai ne Gree r, Kate Millett. and others. had profoundly positive co nse--
quences for the ar t world. Th e formation of the Women's Caucus for Ar t in 1972
compleme nted the found ing of s uch national femin ist publications as the
Femin ist Art j ourn al. Women Artist News, Heresies, Woman's Art Journal, and
Chry salis. Regional and local publica tion s throughout the country empowered
even more women artists to a ser t themselves and direc t their work agai ns t the
long patte rn of male domin ation . Sympa thetic critics and scholars s upported
these pionee ring efforts. In 1976, for example, From TIll Center. Feminist
E=ys o. lVom• • 's Art (Lucy Lippard) added a power ful intellectual element to
the broade r battle for eq uity in the visual ar ts.
The key arti stic figure of the era was Judy Chicago (1939- ). Her angry
response to the sexi st attitudes and practices she experience d during the 19605
stimulated her to conce ive the feminist breakthrough s in ar t for which she has
achieved international recogni tion . Her feminist art programs at Californ ia State
University at Fresn o and at the California Institute of the Arts in th e Los Angeles
suburb of Valencia encouraged students to discover the hidd en heri tag e of
women artists. Th ey also promoted co nsciousness raising activities that co uld
be transformed into creative ar tistic produ ction. With painter Miriam Schapiro,
Chicago developed the participatory Womanhouse Project in Los Angeles, a
seminal developme nt in mode rn femin ist art. Late r, sh e cofounded
Womanspace, an altern ative art gallery for wome n, the Fem inist Studio
Workshop, and the Wom an's Building in Los Angeles, all powerful fact ors in
establishing a s upportive enviro nment for women ar tists in Southern Californ ia.
Chicago's own work constituted a radical depa rt ur e from artistic convention.
Her paintings and drawing s. for example, ada pted vaginal forms and imagery,
employing them as liberating sym bols that en abled women, for the first time , to
ass ume contro l over their own sex uality in the arts. Her most important project
was "The Dinner Party" (Figu re 1-7), the collabo rative room-size scu lpture that
memorialized wome n's ac hieveme nts and str uggles throughout his tory.
Completed in 1979. this mon umental effort co nsisted of 39 place settings repre-
sen ting great women of the past. Above all, "The Dinner Par ty" established a
respect for women and their art and fostered a new way to ex press women 's
r

12 Other Visions,Other voces

-
Rgure H JudyChicago, "The Dinner Party" Mutti-media 48 ' x 48 ' x 48 ' @Judy Chicago.
1979

experiences. Highly controversial, this landmark feminist artwork received

scathing reviews from conservative criti cs and enth usiastic acclaim from many
others. Its con tinuing influence on wome n artists is profound.
Informed and energized by the discovery of this dynamic heritage of socially
conscious art, women artists have created a veritable explosion of such work
throughout the United States from the 80s to the present. Conte mporary addi-
tions to the tradition include the conceptual political ar tworks of Barbara
Kruger and Jenny Holzer, the clandestine efforts of the New York-based
Gue rrilla Girls, the cultu rally self-defining visual pro ducts of African American ,
Latina, Asian, and Native American women, and the political art in ever y con-
ceivable medium of literally thousand s of individual women arti sts. These vital
developments have transformed the landscape of contemporary ar t, providing
new chapters to the ancient historical commitment of artists to represent the
conscience of th eir time s.
 13

The Resi stance Culture In Los Angeles

OTH ER VISION , OTHE R VOICES celebrates the descendants of this tradi-
tion by documenting the lives and works of a vibrant co mmunity of women polit-
ical artists in the Los Angeles area. This community is one of the most
significant in the entire United States, wide ly recognized as such by arti sts and
critics th rougho ut the country. Owing in part to Ole success and vigor of recent
feminist consciousness and activism, several hig hly accomplished women
artists have established roots and professional reputations in the region.
Together, their work constitutes a major addition to the growing body of
American political ar t. A detailed inquir y in to their multifacet ed artistic activities
provides deeper insights about the role of feminism in contemporary socially
conscious art and encourages informed speculation about probable futu re direc-
tions for resistance cultu re generally.
A review of why Los Angeles has been the locus of this striking ar tistic devel-
opment provides a context for the more specific descrip tion of th e community
of women political ar tists and the premise s und erlying their work. Whatever its
public perception th rough out the nation and the world. the city is unique. Fro m
its humble origi ns as a sleepy Mexican village, Los Angeles has grown into th e
second largest city in the United Stales . a world metropolis and international
center of commerce, indu stry, entertainment, and culture. To millions of out-
siders (and man y residen ts as well), its repu tation for kitsch and superficiality is
obvious. Few observers would dispute the widespread perceptio n that appear-
ance substitutes for substance in many featu res of Los Angeles life and culture.
Despite its pervas ive sha llowness (and its enormous complex of social and
economic problems. accentuated during the uprisings in 1992), the Los Angeles
area has historically been fer tile ground for artistic activity of all kinds. For
decades. it has attracted imaginative people in every creative field. Its tolerance
for and encouragement of experi mentation have long appealed to creative
women and men seeking alternatives to personal and professional conve ntion.
Writers, musicians, filmmakers. visual ar tists, and oth ers have all found the
region a marvelous stimulus for their energies. Cumulatively, their effor ts have
made Los Angeles a major contributor to the cultural history of the United
States , es pecially in the 20th centu ry.
The city has also been a major cen ter for oppos itional political activity.
Especially from the 19605 to the present, social activists in Los Angeles have
been regularly at the forefront in vario us struggles for civil rig hts, peace, indus--
trial democracy, and other progressive causes. Th e feminist movement, too, ha s
been vocal and effective in Southern California. Women have occu pied promi-
nent positions in virtually every area of human activity, including th e arts and
politics. Recent changes in college and universi ty hiring policies have enabled
many women ar tists to find teaching jobs in Souther n California schools, col-
leges, and universities, providing them with a financial base to produce their
critical visual ar tworks.
 14 Other Visions. Other Voices

The recent histor y of feminist art in Los Angeles likewise contributes to its
appeal to many women committed to a fusion of artistic creativity and political
criticism. All the women represented in this book recognize and appreciate
such seminal developments as the Womanhouse Project and the othe r feminist
institutions esta blished by Judy Chicago and her colleagues. They recall too the
impact of such groups as the Sisters of Survival, an antinuclear performance
group of the early 19805. and the continuing influence of artists like Corita Kent
and Bettye Saar. Th is environment also nourishe s local male colleagues making
significant contributions to American socially conscious art. Sympathetic to
recent feminist developments, and influenced by the striking presence of area
women producing outstanding political artwork, many men have incorporated
"women's issues" into their ar t and have collaborated on various projects
throughout the Los Angeles area.
The ar tists featu red in the following chapters are all in mid-caree r, spanning
in age from their 30s to their early 50s. For the most part. they know each other
perso nally and professionally and generally provide impressive assistance for
each other's arti stic endeavors. The women of this coherent, loose-knit artis-
tic/ political commu nity routinely attend each other's openings and include each
other in group exhibitions whenever possible. The pervasive competitiveness
and even ru thlessness in the art world generally is conspicuously absent among
these women, even though peRKi"nal tensions among specific individuals clearly
remain. Most have sought to supplement their alternative ar tistic visions and
voices with more hum ane personal styles reflecting the long history of women's
network s of information sharing and mutual support. For most ar tists in this
community, adapting this profound historical heritage to their own daily affairs
itself constitutes a political statement of enormous significance.
As the ensuing chapters reveal, these women work in a striking variety of
visual media. Some use traditional painting and printmaking to communicate
their social and political perceptions and critiques. Others use sculptural.
assemblage, and maskmaking techniqu es for similar objectives. Significantly,
many of the women have pioneered new ways to attract nontradi tional audi-
ences to their arti stic commentary. Th eir murals, installations, banners, bill-
boards, posters, books, and postcard s appear throughout these pages in a pro-
lifera tion of public art forms rarely see n in the recent history of art. Some,
fi nally, seek to obliterate conventional notions about art, relying instead on post-
modern forms designed to sh arpen viewer attention and par ticipation.
Differing in arti stic form and thematic emphasis. the women of OTHER
VISIONS, OTHER VO ICES are more fundamentally united by common percep-
tions about the world and of the arti st's role and responsibility with in it. For
some, political ar t represents the major thr ust of their creative work; for othe rs,
it is an immensely important strain of their overall efforts. All the ar tists use
their work to call attention to the social. economic, and political injustices of con-
tempo rary life-the traditional focus of socially conscious art for several cen-
turies. Some of their themes, including women's images of their own bodies,
 An Introduction IS

reproductive rights, environmental degradation. and several othe rs, blaze new
paths in visual social commentary.

Transcending UOt herness" with UAnot he rness"

All fifteen women, moreover. identify passionately with the historic "othe rs"
of the world, the people relegated to exploitation and oppression by the domi-
nant powers of race, class. and gender. For many, feminism has catalyzed their
broader political conscious ness; for some, feminism has deepened an extant
commitment to social and political radicalism. Above all else, their visions and
voices validate the others, demanding legitimation of their lives and aspirations
and eq uitable redistributions of power and wealth. Their collective arti stic
efforts see k to transcend an alienating view of othe rness by promoting a more
positive, empowering pers pective. To use Lucy Lippard's language in Mixed
Blessings, their point is to discover the common "another ness" that binds the
human species in a collective and uncertain destiny.
At bottom, the collective artistic efforts of aUtile women in this book express
the language of resista nce against political and cultural hegemony. As Creel
Froman has shown, those who control language control the ways that knowl-
edge, meaning, and reality are perceived. a process that maintains historical pat-
terns of inequality." In resisting such power. th ese arti sts and their counterpar ts
across the country use their works to criticize society and politics by masking
such criticism in the language of art More basically, th ey also promote artistic
language as an alternative means of understanding reality. in contrast to the rep-
resen tational language employed by dominant forces and institutions.
Predictably, their efforts meet with mixed success. Institutional suppression of
individual ar tworks and more basic rejections of art's claim as an alternative Ian-
guage are often effective in containing and marginalizing res istance art.
Throughout history. such art rarely effects direct and immediate change. The
wome n in OTIlER VISIONS, OTHER VOICES well understand that th eir visual
works are only a small part of a more comprehens ive process of critical con-
sciousness and political action.
The largest and most subtle barrier facing these women political arti sts is the
manipulation of notions of Quality and standards by official guardians of cultur-
al and political or thodoxy. In a ritual incantation, opponents of socially con-
scious ar t conceal their tru e motivations by claiming that such efforts fall short
of well established standards of arti stic excellence-socially constr ucted dis-
missals routinely directed against women and ethnic minority ar tists more gen-
erally. Unwilling to confront the explicit social criticism of res istance ar tworks.
they shift the focus to criteria es tablished and perpetuated by the predominate-

• see Creel Froman, Language and PQWer (199 2) for a comprehensive theoretical enebsts of
thes e phenomena. Altho ugh beyond the specific scope of the present book , Professor Froma n's
observations deal exte nsively with art and reveal, among other t hings, how alternative resistance
languages in art may be developed .
...
16 Other Vision s, Other Voices

Iy white men who contro l the key institutions of Western intellectu al and polit-
ical life. In her introdu ctor y chapter of Mixed Blessings, Lippard identifies the
process with brutal precision: "The notion of Quality has been the most effec-
tive bludgeon on the side of homogeneity in the modernist and postmodemist
periods, desp ite twenty-five years of attempted revisionism."
Although the vast majority of the women artists presented in this book are
well trained in traditional fine ar ts, most with advanced university degrees in
the field, their work demands evaluation by different, more authe ntic stan-
dard s. Such standar ds should represen t the more comprehe nsive interests of
the audiences to whom they direct their work. Viewers who see (and in many
cases participate in) the artworks that follow bring a multitude of personal
background s, social class origins, educational accomplishments, social and
political values, and personal emotions to the art. They should be empowered
to make the ir own determinations about artistic Quality and effectiveness,
drawing confidently on their entire lives and expe riences. Further uncritical
deference to established authority, fostered by fear and sustained by sophisti-
cated mystification, impedes the legitimate goal of democratizing art and cul-
ture.
It is time for bluntn ess on this score: conventional arti stic standards of qua l-
ity are extremely subjective, working largely to protect es tablished arti stic and
political interests. Moral, pclttical, historical, and educational criteria are at
least as relevant to a critical evaluation of the ar tworks in this book as conven-
tional aes the tic and artistic criteria. In many cases, the form er are decidedly
more relevant, a premise that is especially defen sible when presented in con-
crete rath er than abstract terms.
If a woman viewer, reflecting on Beverly Naidus's paintings and drawings in
her "Fat Book," decides that her length y obsession with her weight and body
image requires painful rethinking, those ar tworks succeed effectively in the
terms in which they are presen ted. If a Chicano youth discovers a neglected
episode about his people's histor y in one of Judy Baca's murals, that work also
succeeds on its own terms. If Pat Ward Williams's installation about the police
murder of Move members in Philadelphia induces anger in an African
American viewer, that work too succeed s effectively. Scores of comparable
examples pervade this book, providing readers themselves with alternative
ways to examine and evaluate visual artwo rks.
Th e women artists of OTHER VISIONS, OTHER VOICES provide an alter-
native to the male, essentially conservative communications in the United
States, spanning the arts, entertainment, the media, and other institution s of
expression in this soc iety. Th eir objective, inten sely felt and superbly execut ed,
is to educate their audien ces and invite them to conside r new approaches to
pressing social and political problem s. History-not the critics-will judge the
final impact of their efforts.