Taking Space: Contemporary Women Artists and the Politics of Scale
Brittany Webb
Portions of Taking Space will be on extended view until Monday September 19th.
Taking Space: Contemporary Women Artists and the Politics of Scale examines the approaches of women artists for whom space is a critical feature of their work, whether they take the space on a wall, the real estate of a room through sculpture and installation, engage seriality as a spatial visual practice, cast a wide legacy in art history or claim the space of their body. This exhibition invites viewers to consider how size and repetition can be interpreted as political gestures in the practices of many women artists.
Featured artists include Mequitta Ahuja, Polly Apfelbaum, Jennifer Bartlett, Maria Berrío, Chakaia Booker, Emily Brown, Joan Brown, Tammy Rae Carland, Squeak Carnwath, Vija Celmins, Elizabeth Colomba, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Eiko Fan, Louise Fishman, Audrey Flack, Mary Frank, Viola Frey, Hope Gangloff, Judy Gelles, Nancy Graves, Guerrilla Girls, Ellen Harvey, Clarity Haynes, Orit Hofshi, Barbara Kruger, Winifred Lutz, Vanessa Marsh, Ana Mendieta, Leah Modigliani, Elizabeth Murray, Wangechi Mutu, Alice Neel, Dona Nelson, Louise Nevelson, Ebony G. Patterson, Liliana Porter, Debra Priestly, Ana Vizcarra Rankin, Faith Ringgold, Mia Rosenthal, Brie Ruais, Betye Saar, Miriam Schapiro, Mira Schor, Alyson Shotz, Sylvia Sleigh, Becky Suss, Mickalene Thomas, Stacy Lynn Waddell, Marie Watt, Dyani White Hawk and Deborah Willis.
Featuring works from the permanent collection, including many recent acquisitions, Taking Space is one of three exhibitions at PAFA in 2020–2021 celebrating women artists in honor of the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which granted women the right to vote.
Select Featured Works
Exhibition Support
Taking Space: Contemporary Women Artists and the Politics of Scale is generously supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Lenore G. Tawney Foundation, The Straus Family Fund, and The Wind Foundation.
Fund for Women and Art at PAFA: Championing Women Artists Since 1810
Emily and Mike Cavanagh, Ro and Martin King; the Alice L. Walton Foundation, Ralph Citino and Lawrence Taylor, Amy and R. Putnam Coes III, Jules and Connie Kay, Sueyun and Gene Locks, John and Leigh Middleton, the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation, Maggie and Brien Murphy, Donna Ostroff and Carl Capista, P. J. Rosenau, Howard Sacks and Vesna Todorović Sacks; Linda Lee Alter, Jane and Casey Brandt, Marilyn Fishman and James MacElderry, Isabel S. Wilcox; Judith K. Brodsky, Elizabeth Glassman, Sharon Lorenzo, Jim and Keith Straw, and an anonymous donor. Honorary members: Rina Banerjee, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Audrey L. Flack, Marguerite Lenfest, Anne E. McCollum, Sarah McEneaney, and Marsha and Jeffrey Perelman.
Special exhibitions are generously supported by Robert E. Kohler and Frances Coulborn Kohler, Dorothy and Ken Woodcock; the Lau Longsworth Charitable Fund; the Armand G. Erpf Fund, Jonathan L. Cohen, Betsy and Kevin Donohoe, Anne E. McCollum, and donors to the PAFA Annual Exhibition Fund.
