Judy Chicago - Revelations
Sometimes the best way to get what you want is to be as straightforward and obvious as possible. But when it comes to art, especially the political kind, that’s usually also the quickest way to end up in trite territory. And in this show, the largest solo London institutional exhibition for Judy Chicago, that’s where far too many works seem to land.
Chicago, born 1939 in Chicago, Illinois, is a feminist artist, art educator and writer with a long and illustrious career. Named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2018, she’s probably best known for her landmark feminist installation ‘The Dinner Party (1974-79)’ which has been on permanent display in Brooklyn since 2007, attracting over 100,00 people a year. Or possibly the many series of outdoor performances staged with fireworks, coloured smoke and body paint. You won’t learn much about either of those, however, as this show primarily focuses on her drawings and is loosely based around an unpublished illuminated manuscript she penned in the early 1970s. It’s now been published as the show catalog and judging by the length I don’t expect many people will ever read it. But to loosely paraphrase Chicago at the opening, at least it’s no longer stuck in the drawer where it’s been sitting unloved for five decades.
Her drawing style is soft and organic with a bold use of shadows and colour. She’s sparse with the details, putting just enough onto the page to convey what’s necessary without ever dipping into the abstract. Early geometric studies are trippy, and very late 60s, while later works push her exploration of the figurative. I found her visual style to be captivating, beautiful and incredibly effective at hammering home uncomfortable observations about birth and masculinity. But I was put off by the works where she obviously felt the visuals alone weren’t strong enough to convey what she wanted.
Specifically, her eco work is just plain naff, looking like the kind of simplistic messaging you expect from young schoolchildren making posters for Earth Day. A sliced tree branch literally drips blood while “HURT TREE” is scrawled across the image. An entire series of beautifully depicted endangered animals is weighed down by overwrought explanations about their predicament, with words like EXTINCTION called out in bold, all caps lettering. Subtle she ain’t, but then again she never was.
Seeing her range of works was a jarring and uncomfortable discrepancy, and something that I struggled with. I kept trying to make sense of my artistic appreciation for someone who made statement works that were daring and cutting edge, but also created the ‘Broken Butterfly, Shattered Dream’ series. These broken ceramics in a silk-lined box look like the kind of chintzy gifts you’d buy at Oliver Bonas to give to someone who’s just had a bereavement. But sometimes the biggest influence doesn’t come from a ground breaking visual, cutting edge tech or even the medium on which it’s conveyed. It’s the fact that something was done at all. Just showing up is often more than enough in many instances, but throughout her career Judy Chicago did a lot more than just show up.
Chicago spoke at the opening. She’s 85 years old and told stories that demonstrated she’s clearly still bitter about the various times that she wasn’t taken seriously, or wasn’t shown, or given due credit. And to that I say… good. Because in spite of all the social change she’s seen in her lifetime, there is unfortunately still much, much more to accomplish. And when change is required the only good time to get complacent is after you’ve accomplished everything you’ve set out to do. I might not have liked everything she’s done or still doing, but I’m glad that she clearly still feels she has much more to contribute to the world.
Plan your visit
‘Revelations’ runs until 01 Sept
FREE
Visit serpentinegalleries.org and follow @serpentineuk on Instagram for more info about the venue.
Visit judychicago.com and follow @judy.chicago on Instagram for more info about the artist.
PLUS…
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