Judy Chicago and The Dinner Party

American Artist's Installation Piece an Icon in Feminist Art History

Aug 15, 2009

Chicago's 'The Dinner Party' is one of the most important works of art in terms of feminist art history and a controversial piece of the 20th century American Art.

The conception of the installation art piece by Judy Chicago titled The Dinner Party coincides with the emergence of a new chapter in the discipline of art history, which was in turn closely linked to the Women's Movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

The Conception of The Dinner Party

Judy Chicago conducted her own research into women's history, which led to the realization of The Dinner Party. Her research had been prompted by the difficulties she herself had to deal with as a woman in the art profession. In the process she came to realize that the sources on women artists did not satisfactorily acknowledge their achievements.

Chicago's frustration demonstrates that female art professionals were encountering obstacles imposed by the patriarchal society even well into the twentieth century. Her efforts were a part of broader feminist movement with its rising awareness of women's issues that called for re-evaluation of male constructed notions of femininity.

Homage to Women

The Dinner Party is a large installation in the shape of an open triangular table set on the polished porcelain surface named the 'Heritage Floor'. While the individual floor tiles bear inscriptions of the names of 999 women, the table is set for 39 people. The settings, 13 on each side of the table, were dedicated to important women and ancient goddesses.

As Gill Perry describes, this was a collaborative multi-media work. The installation features embroidery, ceramics, textiles, needlework, decorative painting, metalwork and other craft-based artwork.

Challenging the Male Point of View

Chicago conceived of the project as a single visual entity that would contribute to the process of reassessment of women and their place in history. The project challenges the idea of a Great Master (a male) whose individual genius manifests itself through intellectually demanding 'high art', a concept deeply embedded in Western art since Renaissance.

The execution of The Dinner Party involved a large number of women craft workers who through various forms, media, and techniques traditionally associated with femininity. The individual components of the arrangement formed symbolic representations of accomplished women and their achievements throughout history.

Craft Versus High Art

Chicago took inspiration from medieval art, which in itself is a statement opposing the principles of high art and its intellectualism, in order to reach wider audience. As she explains: 'Though contrary to the terms of modern art, which promote a visual language that is far from accessible to most people, this earlier model appeared particularly appealing, primarily because it suggested a way of reaching a broad audience, an objective that seemed essential if I were to contribute to any meaningful transformation of consciousness' .Controversy and Criticism

The work has caused much controversy since its first exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Art in 1979. Amelia Jones sees the negative reactions of critics such as Greenberg and Kramer as 'the response of a critic whose system of values is being threatened'.

Indeed, Chicago's installation opposes precisely those principles of high art formulated by Greenberg, for whom anything connected with crafts was a kitsch. For Greenberg 'Kitsch is all that formalist, modernist art is not:...it is literary. It is associated with women's tastes and with domestic crafts' (Amelia Jones).

These reactions to The Dinner Party revealed the state of art history itself as being gender prejudiced while claiming objectivity in judging art. As Jones says: 'For it is precisely its use of women's crafts, combined with its style and content, that allied The Dinner Party with kitsch in the eyes of conservative critics'.Thus Chicago's work not only drew attention to the situation of women's artists, but also triggered the process of reviewing the value system within the discipline of art history itself.

The copyright of the article Judy Chicago and The Dinner Party in 20th Century Art is owned by Zuzana Minarikova. Permission to republish Judy Chicago and The Dinner Party in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.