NEW YORK — “Groundbreaking” is often used, but seldom accurate, in describing goings-on in the art world. But the adjective stacks up in relation to next month’s opening of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art — a first for the U.S. — at the Brooklyn Art Museum.
But museum brass is intentionally avoiding defining feminism in its inaugural exhibition, “Global Feminisms.”
“The expected exhibition would have been a historical look at feminism,” said Maura Reilly, the center’s curator. “We want to start in a new and innovative direction. We’re looking to the present and the future instead of the past. Feminism needs to expand. It goes beyond the borders of the U.S. and Western Europe.”
The title’s use of “Feminisms” is not an error. “Basically, what we are doing is trying to call attention to the fact that feminism is totally a global issue, so we need to think of it in the plural. There is no single definition. What it means to be a woman in Santiago is not what it means to be a woman in New York.”
“Global Feminisms” will feature work from 88 female artists representing more than 50 countries. Reilly teamed up with Linda Nochlin, the Lila Acheson Wallace Professor of Modern Art at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts, to drum up artists, whose works explore such themes as life cycles, identities, politics and emotions. The exhibition coincides with the 30th anniversary of the first major show that explored the role of women in the history of Western art, which was at BAM.
Instead of taking a New York-centric bent, the Sackler Center has rounded up work from a mostly under-40 group. Two-thirds of them have never shown in the Empire State and some have never even seen it. That will no longer be true for many: Seventy-five artists have accepted the Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation’s invitation for a trip to the March 23 opening. Sackler, a BAM board member, is funding the center for feminist art through her foundation. Artists from Zambia, Afghanistan and New Delhi are among those making the journey to attend the inaugural festivities and speak at the opening weekend.
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The 8,300-square-foot Sackler Center will be housed on the museum’s fourth floor and has been designed by Susan Rodriguez of Polshek Partnership Architects. Judy Chicago’s “The Dinner Party” will anchor the site as a permanent installation, and “Pharaohs, Queens and Goddesses,” a show that examines how feminism has changed the way scholars look at the art and life of ancient Egypt, will be the third exhibition and also will bow next month.