ArtSmart Roundtable: An Unusual Dinner Party in Brooklyn

The theme for this month’s ArtSmart Blogging Roundtable is American Art. I am taking you on a journey to Brooklyn, New York, where one of the most interesting American art pieces of the 20th century is housed. Like a few days ago on Thanksgiving, this table is set, waiting for its guests. However, this dinner party is very different from the one you may have been a part of last Thursday.

Here’s a bit of background. Every art historian knows The Dinner Party because of its historical and artistic significance, and the Brooklyn Museum even called it “a milestone in twentieth-century art.”  In fact, I chose it as the subject for my final project in my undergraduate Modern Art class. If you know modern art, then you know Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party. It stands out as such an achievement because of its size, uniqueness, and subject matter. It took several years and a team of 129 members to complete. Unlike a painting or sculpture, this kind of installation is hard to define, and the use of ceramics and table runners to make a statement is unusual.  The Dinner Party tackles a huge subject– women’s history through the ages– in a way that does not go unnoticed!

The Dinner Party was made in the 1970s and is a product of the feminist movement of that decade. The artist, Judy Chicago, wanted to “end the ongoing cycle of omission in which women were written out of the historical record.” She celebrates the achievements of women in history, beginning with prehistory and ending with modern-day women like Georgia O’Keeffe.

There are no “real” guests. Instead, the table has been prepared with place settings that honor important women of the past– artists, poets, leaders, rebels, and goddesses like Elizabeth I, Hatshepsut, Emily Dickinson, Sacajawea, Virginia Woolf, and Susan B. Anthony. The names of  999 more women are painted on the floor tiles. The table is quiet, giving the piece a reflective, possibly somber feeling, in sharp contrast to a real dinner party or what this one would be like if the women were all actually present.

The table runners honor traditional women’s arts that have been historically considered “crafts.”  The plates themselves are each uniquely painted and, yes, I know what you’re thinking some of them look like. That ignited plenty of controversy back then– one congressman even called it “ceramic 3-D pornography.” Ha ha.

The triangle shape of the table represents equality. Each side has 13 settings, linking this dinner party to the Last Supper, which also had 13 guests, all men, of course.

Is this kind of feminist installation still relevant? Absolutely. Though women are being recognized for their accomplishments more, even here in the U.S. they are still paid less for equal work and are expected to do more than their fair share of domestic work. Women are being victimized around the world in a multitude of horrific ways. I see it in my students’ faces and stories– women from the Middle East and Latin America who are victims of physical and mental abuse at the hands of their husbands and family.

Next time you are in New York City, pay a visit to Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party at the Brooklyn Museum and honor women past and present. I certainly will.

Ready to get inspired to see more American art? Here are the links to this month’s other ArtSmart posts:

Why Abstract Expressionism Matters from No Onions Extra Pickles

Mary Cassatt & the American Spirit from Career Girl Travels

Warhol’s Art and Today from A Sense of Place

Five American Artists Worthy of a Second Look from Travellious

Photo credits: All from Flikr: Photos 1 & 2 islespunkfan, photo 3 joethelion, photo 4 mapgirl271, and photo 5 angelan

Sources for the quotes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dinner_Party and http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/dinner_party/