MAJOR EXHIBITION OF WORK BY CONTEMPORARY WOMEN ARTISTS HITS D.C.

During the feminist art movement of the 1960s and ‘70s, women artists claimed ownership over the visualization of the body. The 37 artists in NO MAN’S LAND: Women Artists from the Rubell Family Collection, now on view at the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) in Washington, D.C., through Jan. 8, 2017, explore this history and experiment with the expressive potential of the female form through large-scale paintings and sculptural hybrids.

Collaborating with the Rubell Family Collection (RFC), Miami, NMWA is realizing a new vision for the exhibition, which opened at the RFC’s space in December 2015. The highly focused selection of paintings and sculptures emphasizes the female body and the physical process of art making—two themes have become prevalent feminist avenues for experimentation, play, and subversion. The exhibition features artists whose aesthetically diverse work addresses wide-ranging intellectual and political themes.

Although women historically had limited access to training and opportunity in the traditional fields of sculpture and painting, the title of the exhibition suggests “a space free from the rule of any sovereign power” where women artists are able to adapt and modify these mediums.

For the artists in NO MAN’S LAND, the physical process of making is key to developing meaning, exploring intellectual conundrums, and conjuring psychological experiences. Some artists, including Cecily Brown and Mickalene Thomas adapt the art-historical theme of the odalisque by transforming its typically passive character. Others such as Hayv Kahraman use portraiture as a space for self-expression. Many of the works on view signify broader ideas about culture, gender, and ethnicity. Painters and sculptors eliminate hierarchies among mediums by disrupting conventional ideas about women and handcraft. Historically defined as “women’s work,” handcraft remains a gendered topic in art. Artists including Analia Saban, Rosemarie Trockel, and Shinique Smith focus on unconventional materials or labor-intensive techniques. They upend tradition to suit their aesthetic and intellectual purposes.

To learn more about the artists and the collectors, you can listen to the audio guide, view a video playlist, and explore the events calendar.