Pioneering Artist Judy Chicago's Ongoing Pursuit of Women's Equality

Courtesy of Jessica Silverman

In the early 1970s, Judy Chicago, a trailblazing artist, crafted vibrant, pulsating abstractions that became icons of women's empowerment. These mesmerizing artworks, pulsating like stars, flowers, or erogenous vortices, remain some of her most celebrated creations.

The lightbox, initially conceived to illuminate street advertising at night, found a more profound purpose in Chicago's hands. She saw it as a means to champion women's emancipation, valuing it more highly than brand marketing. 

▲ Queen Victoria in Glass, 2023, Hand-painted stained glass and lightbox, 41 3/4 x 41 3/4 x 2 1/8 inches / 106 x 106 x 5.4 cm, Edition of 3 plus 2 artist's proofs (AP 1/2), Courtesy of Jessica Silverman

Chicago's commitment to these emblematic abstractions remains unwavering as she meticulously hand-paints them on glass. "Flowering Glass" draws inspiration from Chicago's famous "Through the Flower 2" (1973), a piece that graced the original version of her autobiography. "Queen Victoria" is based on one of her "Great Lady" paintings, sharing the same title from 1973.

Judy Chicago (b. 1939, Chicago) is an artist whose indelible impact on art history is unquestionable. Her most renowned work, "The Dinner Party" (1979), is permanently displayed at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. Her art can be found in collections at esteemed institutions like the British Museum and Tate in London, Moderna Museet in Stockholm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery in Washington D.C., LACMA and MOCA in Los Angeles, the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, the Getty Trust and Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, SFMOMA in San Francisco, and the Art Institute of Chicago, among over 25 university art museums. Recent museum retrospectives have taken place at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., and ICA Miami. 

▲ Flowering Glass, 2023, Hand-painted stained glass and lightbox, 41 3/4 x 41 3/4 x 2 1/8 inches / 106 x 106 x 5.4 cm, Edition of 3 plus 2 artist's proofs (AP 1/2), Courtesy of Jessica Silverman

Chicago's art has been featured in prominent thematic group exhibitions such as "Pacific Standard Time: Made in LA" at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, "Ends of the Earth" at Haus der Kunst in Berlin, and "The World Goes Pop" at Tate Modern in London. She has also collaborated with Maria Grazia Chiuri, the creative director of Dior, on a series of handbags and designed the stage set for their 2020 Spring-Summer Haute Couture show in Paris.

Currently residing and working in Belen, New Mexico, Chicago engages in special projects with Salon 94 and is represented by Jeffrey Deitch and Jessica Silverman. Her enduring commitment to women's equality continues to shine brightly through her art, making a lasting mark on the world of contemporary art.

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