The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago, in the Brooklyn Museum...in the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art
the cover of the book...
And more info about the Dinner Party...
The principal component of The Dinner Party is a massive ceremonial banquet arranged in the shape of an open triangle—a symbol of equality—measuring forty-eight feet on each side with a total of thirty-nine place settings. The "guests of honor" commemorated on the table are designated by means of intricately embroidered runners, each executed in a historically specific manner. Upon these are placed, for each setting, a gold ceramic chalice and utensils, a napkin with an embroidered edge, and a fourteen-inch china-painted plate with a central motif based on butterfly and vulvar forms. Each place setting is rendered in a style appropriate to the individual woman being honored.
Wing One of the table begins in prehistory with the Primordial Goddess and continues chronologically with the development of Judaism; it then moves to early Greek societies to the Roman Empire, marking the decline in women's power, signified by Hypatia's place setting. Wing Two represents early Christianity through the Reformation, depicting women who signify early expressions of the fight for equal rights, from Marcella to Anna van Schurman. Wing Three begins with Anne Hutchinson and addresses the American Revolution, Suffragism, and the movement toward women's increased individual creative expression, symbolized at last by Georgia O'Keeffe.
Source: http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/home.php
The scope of this ceramic installation is incredible. I was so shocked when I first saw some of the pictures...then finally saw a book of them. And then I was so inspired to be a feminist and a ceramic sculptor.
This is a great piece. I remember when it was first shown...what controversy! It's so nice to see it again. I think it sat in storage for years.
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Wow, I had no idea about this or Judy, the place settings look amazing, very inspiring indeed.
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