Two weeks ago, I went to the beautiful Morgan Museum and Library to view an exhibition on lists. (My very cool internship allows me to do these fabulous things in the middle of the day in the name of research)
A little background on the exhibition – there were a number of different kinds of “lists” — to-do lists, thoughts, inventories, collections—all made by famous personalities such as, Franz Klien, Picasso, Elaine de Kooning etc…. from the Smithsonian’s Archives on American Art. A wonderfully curated show, with a fabulous sense of humor.
The idea that resonated with me the most was the metonymic nature of the lists. The reductive aspect of communicated large, relevant, deep, intangible ideas through a list of words, pictures and colors.
A beautiful list by Joan Snyder represented her response to the question, “What is feminist art?”. There are several definitions of the idea, but the simplicity and the wholeness with which she distills the complexity of the idea into a few essential points is like magic.
What is Feminist Art? The list goes:
“FEMALE SENSIBILITY IS LAYERS, WORDS, MEMBRANES, COTTON, CLOTH, ROPE, REPETITION, BODIES, WET, OPENING, CLOSING REPETITION, LISTS, LIFESTORIES, GRIDS, DESTROYING GRIDS, HOUSES, INTIMACY, DOORWAYS, BREASTS, VAGINAS, FLOW, STRONG, BUILDING, PUTTING TOGETHER MANY DISPARAGING ELEMENTS, REPETITION, RED, PINK, BLACK, EARTH FEEL COLORS, THE SUN, THE MOON, ROOTS SKINS, WALLS, YELLOW, FLOWERS, STREAMS, PUZZLES, QUESTIONS, STUFFING, SEWING, FLUFFING, SATIN, HEARTS, TEARING, TEARING, TEARING, TYING, DECORATING, BAKING, FEEDING, HOLDING, LISTENING, SEEING THRU THE LAYERS, OIL, VARNISH, SHELLAC, JELL, PASTE, GLUE, SEEDS, THREAD, MORE, NOT LESS, REPETITION, WOMEN CRITICS, WOMEN, WRITERS, WOMEN ARTISTS, EITHER NOURISHING US OR EATING US UP ALIVE, TOKENISM, CURATORS, UNIVERSITIES, TOKENISM, FEAR OF OTHER WOMEN TO AKNOWLEDGE FEMALE SENSIBILITY, HOSTILE BOY ARTISTS, ACCEPTING MEN ARTISTS, SEPARATING THE MEN FROM THE BOYS, DIVIDING WOMEN, PIECE OF PIE-ISM, MONEY, ART, SEX, BREASTS, LAYERS, SYMPHONIES, MULT-IROLED, MULTI-PART, STORIES, NARRATIVE, PAINT/FLESH, SERIOUS, OVERWHELMING, SOFT, HARD, WOMEN WORKING, WORKING WOMEN, HANGING, DANGLING, BREAKING, BEING FRUITY, ANGRY, NAIVE, BORN AGAIN AND TRYING TO DESCRIBE HOT WHITE FLESH TIES..”
Attached below are some of the lists on display – if you are in the city, its a must see show!
{I wasn’t allowed to photograph inside, so all the images here are linked from google search results.}
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