Art and Feminism Paperback – Abridged, April 2, 2012

This book would be an excellent textbook for a Women In Art course. It doesn't have much information on centuries prior to the twentieth and largely focuses on art, artists, and issues from the 1960's on, so it wouldn't do as the only text for such a course. But this is all you need for late twentieth century concerns.The early essays are dripping with Freudian psychology and psychoanalytical social criticism. The issues surrounding why it took so long for there to be a sense of equality of greatness amongst artists of all genders is explored deeply. The issues of representation of all races and sexual orientations then follows. The book stops just short of discussing the newest research on intersex persons (persons born with an extra chomosome, among others {XXY, for example}).For a movement that was intending to create a sense of equality, feminist theory highlights both the vast differences as well as the profound similarities between the perception processes of men and women. This includes both the perceptions of and different approaches to art as well as life. Yet, when all is said and done, more recent artists are primarily interested not in these issues, but more a sense of having their work judged based on its quality, not their gender.The only disappointment I have in this book is one that no other book addresses either. So, I mean this only as a minor criticism. In short, the book does not answer the following: Is ther an intersex mind state? Feminist theory either didn't reach the point of asking this in time for the extensive research put into this book or it has come to its conclusion and will transform gradually into a whole other movement.The art chosen to represent the above ideas and explorations is top quality. The reproductions are sharp and colorful. I would recommend this book to anyone with interests in women in art or in feminist theory.

Wonderful book which presents images, critiques and short bios of almost 100 feminist artists in all fields. Artists include Yvonne Rainer, Yayoi Kusama, Louise Bourgeois, Alice Aycock, Carolee Schneeman, Joan Jonas, Martha Rosler, Nan Goldin, Ane Mendieta, Marina Abramovic, Urike Rosenbach, Kara Walker, Gillian Wearing, Guerilla Girls, and more. It is profusely illustrated and is a terrific introduction to the work of these women. Highly recommended.

This is formatted artistically and is a very nice history of women's art. A great book for those interested in feminism in art.

great

This book had the sort of writing I was looking for. I teach art appreciation and needed to read up on this theme so I could present some ideas for the students to write and research about.

This book is a great "picture book" for anyone interested in art and/or women artist. The descriptions of the work are concise, giving enough information to make you want to investigate further. A necessary addition to any art book collection.

The 2012/most current edition of this book is surreptitiously called "abridged." What has been removed is all the original critical texts present in earlier editions. The intro essay by Phelan still says "Art and Feminism present key works, both visual and written" (pp. 17-18), but the written ones are gone. I don't have the heart to give the entire book one star...the survey is phenomenal. But the publishers deserve less than one.