Ganesa Images from Indian and Indonesia: From Circa 7th to 15th Century A.D.

Description

1974-78) was an important collaborative installation thatmaterialized at the height of the women’s art movement. Conceived by Ilise Greenstein as a nonhierarchical, secular commemoration of female role models,
consisted of an eighteen-foot abstract ceiling that hung above a circular arrangement of eleven monumental canvases, each depicting the standing figure of a heroic woman. The choice of subject was left entirely to the creator of each work. As a result, the paintings formed a visually cohesive group without compromising the individuality of the artists. Contemporary and historical women, deities, and conceptual figures were portrayed by distinguished New York painters–Alice Neel, May Stevens, and Sylvia Sleigh–as well as their accomplished colleagues, June Blum, Martha Edelheit, Elsa Goldsmith, Shirley Gorelick, Betty Holliday, Diana Kurz, Cynthia Mailman, andSharon Wybrants. Among the role models depicted were Artemisia Gentileschi, Frida Kahlo, Betty Friedan, Joan of Arc, and a female incarnation of God.Maureen Connor also designed a fabricenclosure for
, but it was never executed.Although last exhibited in 1980,
has lingered in the minds of art historians who continue to note its significance as an exemplar of feminist collaboration. Based on previously unpublished archival materials and featuring dozens of rarely seen works of art, this comprehensive study details the fascinating history of
, its constituent paintings, and its ambitious creators.