Art and Feminism Paperback – Abridged, April 2, 2012

This book would be an excellent textbook for a Women In Art course. It doesn't have much information on centuries prior to the twentieth and largely focuses on art, artists, and issues from the 1960's on, so it wouldn't do as the only text for such a course. But this is all you need for late twentieth century concerns.The early essays are dripping with Freudian psychology and psychoanalytical social criticism. The issues surrounding why it took so long for there to be a sense of equality of greatness amongst artists of all genders is explored deeply. The issues of representation of all races and sexual orientations then follows. The book stops just short of discussing the newest research on intersex persons (persons born with an extra chomosome, among others {XXY, for example}).For a movement that was intending to create a sense of equality, feminist theory highlights both the vast differences as well as the profound similarities between the perception processes of men and women. This includes both the perceptions of and different approaches to art as well as life. Yet, when all is said and done, more recent artists are primarily interested not in these issues, but more a sense of having their work judged based on its quality, not their gender.The only disappointment I have in this book is one that no other book addresses either. So, I mean this only as a minor criticism. In short, the book does not answer the following: Is ther an intersex mind state? Feminist theory either didn't reach the point of asking this in time for the extensive research put into this book or it has come to its conclusion and will transform gradually into a whole other movement.The art chosen to represent the above ideas and explorations is top quality. The reproductions are sharp and colorful. I would recommend this book to anyone with interests in women in art or in feminist theory.

Wonderful book which presents images, critiques and short bios of almost 100 feminist artists in all fields. Artists include Yvonne Rainer, Yayoi Kusama, Louise Bourgeois, Alice Aycock, Carolee Schneeman, Joan Jonas, Martha Rosler, Nan Goldin, Ane Mendieta, Marina Abramovic, Urike Rosenbach, Kara Walker, Gillian Wearing, Guerilla Girls, and more. It is profusely illustrated and is a terrific introduction to the work of these women. Highly recommended.

This book had the sort of writing I was looking for. I teach art appreciation and needed to read up on this theme so I could present some ideas for the students to write and research about.

The 2012/most current edition of this book is surreptitiously called "abridged." What has been removed is all the original critical texts present in earlier editions. The intro essay by Phelan still says "Art and Feminism present key works, both visual and written" (pp. 17-18), but the written ones are gone. I don't have the heart to give the entire book one star...the survey is phenomenal. But the publishers deserve less than one.

This is formatted artistically and is a very nice history of women's art. A great book for those interested in feminism in art.

great

SI DESEAS CONOCER LA OTRA PARTE DE LA HISTORIA DE LAS ARTES... ESTA HISTORIA SI INCLUYE EL ARTE REALIZADO POR MUJERES ARTISTAS.

This book is a great "picture book" for anyone interested in art and/or women artist. The descriptions of the work are concise, giving enough information to make you want to investigate further. A necessary addition to any art book collection.

This book is ideal if you are studying art or art history, I would recommend this book to anyone doing level two and level three art history courses with The Open University as the material in the book ties in with the course materials. I bought this book to further my knowledge of art and feminism as I studied a lot of the artists when I did my Open University degree in Art History I wish this book had been available when I was studying it would have been extremely useful offering further insights into the artists that I had to study for example artists like Judy Chicago, Eva Hesse, Carolee Schneemann, Martha Rosler, Ana Mendieta, Cindy Sherman and Linda Benglis to name but a few. Even if your not doing a degree buy the book anyway and expand your knowledge of art.

Disappointing that Art and feminism seems to have morphed into little more than body awareness. Most interesting inclusions stem from the '70s and information here shows a great deal of repetition from other books of this genre. These mentioned artists have real merit, but an investigation into contemporary art and feminism would have been welcome as a counterpoint. The more current examples of art and artists require more discussion as the concept of feminism in the here and now is vastly removed from that of the 70s. Interviews with the artists required.

Informative with a great mix of imagery and text. Ideal to understand a critical framework of feminism throughout the decades and a great book for inspiration.

Very informative

This book was invaluable for writing my dissertation on feminist art as it taught me a lot about the feminist art movement and quashed any preconceptions I had about feminism. It introduced me to many women artists I had not heard of and told me more about the ones I was already familiar with. Lovely full colour pictures and lots of detail on the works included. I had kept borrowing the book from the college library and in the end decided to buy my own copy for my own library even though I had nearly finished my essay. Only one small criticism was that this new published edition does not have all of the essays at the back, that the original hardbook copy had but I suppose that is reflected in the price. A great book for any art lover even if you are not into feminst art.