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52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone celebrates the fifty-first anniversary of the historic exhibition Twenty Six Contemporary Women Artists, curated by Lucy R. Lippard and presented at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in 1971. 52 Artists will showcase work by the artists included in the original 1971 exhibition, alongside a new roster of twenty-six female identifying or nonbinary emerging artists, tracking the evolution of feminist art practices over the past five decades. 52 Artists will encompass the entirety of the Museum (approx. 8,000 sq. ft)—the first exhibition to do so in The Aldrich’s new building which was inaugurated in 2004.
The artists whose work was presented in the original 1971 exhibition are: Cecile Abish (b. 1926), Alice Aycock (b. 1946), Cynthia Carlson (b. 1942), Sue Ann Childress* (b. 1947), Glorianna Davenport* (b. 1944), Susan Hall (b. 1943), Mary Heilmann (b. 1940), Audrey Hemenway (1930-2008), Laurace James (b. 1936), Mablen Jones (1943-2021), Carol Kinne (1942-2016), Christine Kozlov (1945-2005), Brenda Miller (b. 1941), Mary Miss (b. 1944), Dona Nelson (b. 1947), Louise Parks* (b. 1944), Shirley Pettibone (1936-2011), Howardena Pindell (b. 1943), Adrian Piper (b. 1948), Sylvia Plimack Mangold (b. 1938), Reeva Potoff (b. 1941), Paula Tavins (1936-2019), Merrill Wagner (b. 1935), Grace Bakst Wapner (b. 1934), Jackie Winsor (b. 1941), and Barbara Zucker (b. 1940). All but three of the original twenty-six artists will have work included in 52 Artists. (*These artists are not participating.)
The new generation of artists included in the exhibition are: Leilah Babirye (b. 1985), Phoebe Berglund (b. 1980), LaKela Brown (b. 1982), Lea Cetera (b. 1983), Susan Chen (b. 1992), Pamela Council (b. 1986), Lizania Cruz (b. 1983), Florencia Escudero (b. 1987), Alanna Fields (b. 1990), Emilie L. Gossiaux (b. 1989), Ilana Harris-Babou (b. 1991), Loie Hollowell (b. 1983), Maryam Hoseini (b. 1988), Hannah Levy (b. 1991), Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski (b. 1985), Catalina Ouyang (b. 1993), Anna Park (b. 1996), Erin M. Riley (b. 1985), LJ Roberts (b. 1980), Aya Rodriguez-Izumi (b. 1986), Aliza Shvarts (b. 1986), Astrid Terrazas (b. 1996), Tourmaline (b. 1983), Rachel Eulena Williams (b. 1991), Kiyan Williams (b. 1991), and Stella Zhong (b. 1993).
The twenty-six emerging artists were born in or after 1980, live and work in New York City, and will have not had a major solo museum exhibition in the United States as of March 1, 2022, aligning both with The Aldrich’s mission of representing the work of emerging artists and with Lippard’s original mandate for the 1971 exhibition. "This group of 26 emerging artists reflect the revolutionary advancement of feminist art practices over half a century and exhibit a diversity of experiences and a multiplicity of sensibilities united by a twenty-first century feminist expression that is inclusive, expansive, elastic, and free," said The Aldrich’s Senior Curator Amy Smith-Stewart, who curated the contemporary selection.
On view at The Aldrich from April 18 to June 13, 1971, Twenty Six Contemporary Women Artists was organized by writer, art critic, activist, and curator Lucy R. Lippard. She viewed curating this landmark exhibition as an activist gesture. In its catalogue, she states: “I took on this show because I knew there were many women artists whose work was as good or better than that currently being shown, but who, because of the prevailingly discriminatory policies of most galleries and museums, can rarely get anyone to visit their studios or take them as seriously as their male counterparts.” With this exhibition, Lippard arguably founded feminist curatorial practice in this country.
52 Artists will survey this landmark exhibition, including works of art from the original exhibition and recreations of some of the more ephemeral pieces, and, if neither are available, related works from the same period. The exhibition will also include recent works by many of the original artists showing how their practices have evolved over the past fifty years. 52 Artists will also debut a commensurate group of twenty-six emerging artists living and working in New York City. By showing the original group alongside emerging artists of today, the exhibition will testify both to the historic impact of Lippard’s milestone exhibition and to the influence of her work, and the work of the original twenty-six artists she presented at The Aldrich, on a new generation of feminist artists.
Lippard’s original 1971 exhibition at The Aldrich was one of the first institutional responses to the issue of women artists’ invisibility in museums and galleries. More specifically, the show offered a rejoinder to the protests by the Ad Hoc Women Artists Committee (founded by Poppy Johnson, Brenda Miller, Faith Ringgold, and Lucy Lippard) over the absence of women in the Whitney Museum of American Art’s 1970 Sculpture Annual. Twenty Six Contemporary Women Artists opened the floodgates to a host of other feminist exhibitions throughout the 1970s, signaling Lippard’s emergence as a visionary feminist curator and critic and marking the debut of many groundbreaking artists. 52 Artists not only celebrates this radical exhibition but underscores its ongoing influence on future generations of artists.
The exhibition is organized by The Aldrich’s Senior Curator Amy Smith-Stewart, who selected the emerging twenty-six artists, and independent curator Alexandra Schwartz, with The Aldrich’s Curatorial Assistant and Publications Manager Caitlin Monachino.
A 180-page hardcover book, co-published with Gregory R. Miller & Co., will accompany the exhibition. This significant catalogue will include new essays by Lippard, Smith-Stewart, and Schwartz, as well as rare historical documentation of the original exhibition, images, installation views, and checklists from both the 1971 and 2022 shows.
Hotline is an artwork that takes the form of a telephone hotline where participants can navigate a "choose-your-own-adventure" narrative. To participate, call (866) 696-0940. To listen to messages left by past participants, click here.
Aliza Shvarts (b. 1986, Santa Monica, CA)
Hotline, 2020–ongoing
24-hour toll-free hotline
Courtesy of the artist
Major support for 52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
Generous support is provided by the Diana Bowes and Jim Torrey Commissions Fund, the Girlfriend Fund, Richard Mumby, the National Endowment for the Arts, The O'Grady Foundation, the Robert Lehman Foundation, the Wagner Foundation, and Friends of 52 Artists members: Melinda and Brian Carroll, Ellen and Andrew Celli, Eric Diefenbach and James-Keith Brown, Linda and Michael Dugan, Martin and Rebecca Eisenberg Foundation, The Evelyn Toll Family Foundation, Goldman Sachs, Rachel and Peter Goulding, Agnes Gund, Pamela and David Hornik, Stephanie and Tim Ingrassia, Sacha Janke and Andrew McCormack, The Kaleta A. Doolin Foundation, Kristina and Philip Larson, Miyoung Lee and Neil Simpkins, Elena Shulman, and Talbott and Carter Simonds Foundation.
Additional support is provided by the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, Bernard Lumpkin and Carmine Boccuzzi, and Lisa Roumell and Mark Rosenthal.
The catalogue for 52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone is generously supported by the Eric Diefenbach and James-Keith Brown Publications Fund and the Girlfriend Fund.
As part of its All of the Sky: Five Poets, Five Saturdays series, The Aldrich will host five noted contemporary poets– Mahogany L. Browne, Rosebud Ben-Oni, Eileen Myles, Emily Skillings, and Nathalie Handal–for Saturday readings held in person in the Museum beginning on July 23, 2022.
Visit the Museum for FREE the third Saturday of every month. Participate in a story time and a family-friendly tour.
Together, we’ll read A Book of Bridges: Here to There and Me to You by Cheryl Keely, then create our own 3-D model bridges inspired by the story, guided by Aldrich Educators in the Museum’s Studio.
Arrows, pipes, paint, mud… how many different sticky materials can you discover along this tour of 52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone, and why did the artists choose to use them? Guided by our Aldrich Educators, explore “sticky matter” through close-looking of materials, texture, process to spark family-friendly conversation around gender stereotypes and cultural divide in this landmark exhibition
As part of its All of the Sky: Five Poets, Five Saturdays series, The Aldrich will host noted contemporary poet Emily Skillings.
As part of its All of the Sky: Five Poets, Five Saturdays series, The Aldrich will host noted contemporary poet Nathalie Handal.
How do our bodies co-exist with the natural landscape through tumultuous times? Explore how artists from 52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone have been inspired by or explored the relationships between the body and landscape through a variety of found materials, ephemeral creative processes, and corporeal symbolism along this gallery tour, facilitated by Education Manager Lorena Sferlazza.
Visit the Museum for FREE the third Saturday of every month. Participate in a Story Time at 10:30 am, an all-ages tour of 52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone at 1 pm, and drop-in to The Studio for a guided family-friendly art-making activity from 12 noon to 4 pm.
Load up your spaceship and blast off to The Aldrich for Story Time for Young Explorers, alongside the Ridgefield Library! During our expedition, we will discover outdoor sculpture by Alice Aycock with a family-friendly reading of Life on Mars by Jon Agee, inspired by how science can fuel the imagination and vice versa. Then, trek over to our Studio for a guided art-making activity: creating your own cardboard satellites! Perfect for families with children in early elementary school, grades K-2.
This Third Saturday, stop by the Front Desk to pick up a free Explore! Guide to take you on a self-guided quest of our galleries. Along the quest you will search, sketch, puzzle-solve and discover connections between the original artists from Twenty Six Contemporary Women Artists in 1971 and the new generation of artists featured alongside them in our current exhibition, 52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone.
Join us for this in-person gallery tour of The Aldrich’s current exhibition, 52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone guided by our Museum Educators!
Join us for Aldrich Artists at the Table, the Museum's biennial farm-to-museum dinner in our Sculpture Garden where you will dine al fresco with Museum supporters and Aldrich exhibiting artists. Enjoy a cocktail hour featuring Nod Hill Brewery beer and cocktails with Litchfield Distillery spirits and Tito's Handmade Vodka,, followed by a locally-sourced three-course dinner prepared by the Museum's culinary partner Hayfields Market.
Join us for this in-person gallery tour of highlighted works from 52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone, guided by our Museum Educators and reserved for senior adults ages 60 and above!
Investigate conversations around identity politics across recent generations through this guided tour of 52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone with Education Manager Lorena Sferlazza, revealing how today’s artists continue the conversation.
Enjoy a tour of the Museum’s current exhibition, 52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone, with Executive Director Cybele Maylone followed by drinks in the Atrium.
We’re back with Aldrich After Hours in October featuring wine and beer, mini interactive tours, and more inspired by the current exhibition, 52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone. Enjoy a drink outdoors in the Sculpture Garden and meet new friends in the Museum galleries during these bi-monthly social gatherings.
Join us for this in-person gallery tour of highlighted works from 52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone guided by our Museum Educators, reserved specifically for senior adults ages 60 and above!
Visit the Museum for FREE the third Saturday of every month. Participate in a Story Time at 10:30 am, an all-ages tour of 52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone at 1 pm, and drop-in to The Studio for a guided family-friendly art-making activity from 12 noon to 4 pm.
Discover how artists Laurace James, Hannah Levy, and Lea Cetera use sculpture to explore the relationship between body and machine. Inspired by these artists featured in 52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone, create your own kinetic sculpture in this self-guided activity with prompts shared in The Studio! All ages are welcome to participate, free with admission during Museum hours.
Bring your budding artists to The Aldrich for Story Time, in collaboration with the Ridgefield Library! Together, we will explore themes of transformation as we read Moth & Butterfly: Ta Da! by Dev Petty and explore the soft sculpture of Florencia Escudero. Then, we will move to the Museum studio to create our very own soft sculpture butterflies!
Join us for this in-person gallery tour of The Aldrich’s current exhibition, 52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone, guided by our Museum Educators!
We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra to present the RSO Quartet for a performance inspired by current exhibition, 52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone. The quartet features violinists Jorge Avilia and Mialtin Zhezha, violist Suzanne Corey-Sahlin, and cellist Nick Hardie.
We’re delighted to present a panel discussion with artists Aya Rodriguez-Izumi, Kiyan Williams, and Lizania Cruz, moderated by curator and writer Legacy Russell, author of Glitch Feminism and Executive Director of The Kitchen in New York City.
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum looks back at a 1971 exhibition devoted to women and puts their work in conversation with emerging feminist artists.
Top image: 52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone (installation view), The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, June 6, 2022 to January 8, 2023. Photo: Jason Mandella