!W.A.R.: Women Art Revolution
Filmmaker Lynn Hershman Leeson traces the largely ignored history of women in art in a new documentary and interactive WIKI community—and aims to fill in the gaps
By Camille Ikalina Robles
Published: October 5th, 2010 | 11:40am
Why is it that even art enthusiasts haven’t heard of more female artists? And why do our most respected museums fill the majority of their walls with the works of men—despite all of the wonderful works by women? These are the questions Lynn Hershman Leeson aims to answer in her new documentary !W.A.R.: Women Art Revolution and online, community-supported WIKI database RAW/WAR.
When Leeson left home for college, she wanted to go somewhere far, far away from Cleveland, Ohio. 'Somewhere' was the University of California, Berkeley, and that 'somewhere' dropped her right into the middle of one of the most significant movements for women and art of our time.
The Feminist Art Movement began in the late 1960s, and Leeson was at the forefront of documenting its early beginnings. With more than 40 years of footage that includes interviews with artists, innovators, art historians, and critics, and with a soundtrack of original music by Sleater-Kinney's Carrie Brownstein, Leeson created !W.A.R.: Women Art Revolution, a film documenting the movement's values and ideas by the women who passionately cultivated and fought for them.
Leeson went to Berkeley not with the intention of becoming a filmmaker, but to study art, a choice her family didn't exactly support. That, combined with professors who insisted on telling her what to do and make, led Leeson to become deeply discouraged, and she quit pursuing art several times. Early on, she experienced just how different people treated her simply because she was a woman. During a recent interview, Leeson remembered, "I found that if people thought I was smart, they would shun me. So for a long time I acted dumb. I think it was the insistence of equality that made me start asking questions."
Deeply sensitive to slights, injustice, and being left out, it's no wonder that Leeson eventually dedicated much of her life to this film, documenting female artists like herself who have experienced just that type of indifference in pursuing their work.
As I watched the film, I couldn't stop asking myself these questions: How could I, a woman who graduated with a degree in art history, who took classes on women and art, and a woman who is a feminist, have not heard of most of the women artists involved in this revolution? And why is so much missing from our cultural history? The exclusion of female artists from major museums, as well as the lack of artistic environments for women to produce and perform their art, are just a few of the reasons why only a handful of women artists register in our collective cultural memory.
Historically, female artists and their works were extremely undervalued by the mainstream art world. But just because it wasn't being documented and made available to the world doesn't mean that it wasn't still going on. In fact, women have been quite prolific when it comes to art—and through the efforts of Leeson (as well as the convenience of the internet)—people will have greater access to much of this missing work soon.
"We need to democratize access and change the historical omissions and erasures that have plagued us in the past," says Leeson. !W.A.R. is a step in the direction, as well as many other projects that Leeson has in the works, like a comic book created with artist Alexandra Chowaniec that addresses the same issues as the documentary. However, the most significant project and contribution of Leeson is the creation of a multi-media WIKI known as RAW/WAR that will premiere at this year's Sundance Film Festival. According to Leeson, the database will include a curriculum guide for every exhibit, book, article, and film by a woman from 1968 to the present.
The Guerilla Girls, an anonymous group of activists/artists based in NYC, have been addressing the issue since 1985. This 2005 billboard succinctly sums up the historic problems and feminist dilemmas inherent in the art world.
The RAW/WAR project is another way that people can access the gaps in women's art history. Designed with the idea that history is defined by the community, the expandable database allows the user to shed light on what information is missing and why. RAW/WAR, essentially, gives the power back to the people, and it's already in progress. But once it's all filled out will artists, feminists, men, women, teachers, and people of diverse social, racial, and economic backgrounds seek it—and then teach it?
Like the provocative, innovative art that was part of the !W.A.R. Movement, the modern feminist movement is a revolution for all people that goes beyond gender lines, and asks us to consider our own version history as we reflect on it and ask questions. Ultimately, it is the realization that it's not so much about what information is out there that's important, but rather, what's missing. Thankfully, Leeson and her colleagues are beginning to fill in the gaps for all of us.
For more information on the film and Leeson's work, visit the official site at !W.A.R. Women in Art, rawwar.org, and Stanford's !W.A.R. site.
Issue #37
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Margaret (about 1 year)
YES! Thats it, we are moving in the right direction. Superb work.