Book
MOTHER ART
A collective of Women Artists
by Suzanne Siegel, Laura Silagi and Deborah Krall
The essence of this book is about change, changing roles, changing times and our reaction and action through making art.
Click on back cover image to order book (97 page book, full color)
What is happening to the world lies, at the moment, just outside of common human understanding. It is the writers, poets, the artists, the filmmakers who can make the connections, who can find ways of bringing it into the realm of common understanding. Who can translate cash-flow charts and scintillating boardroom speeches into real stories aout real people with real lives. Arundhati Roy, Writer (Power Politics, 2001)
“Mother Art” documents the work of this seminal collective of artists who came together through the Woman’s Building in Los Angeles in 1973. Using photographs of the group’s work, we gain a unique understanding of the issues critical during the thirteen years of Mother Art’s existence. These feminist artists started by confronting discrimination against artists who are mothers and went on to tackle a vast array of social and political issues in their art. The group was attacked by the press and politicians, including Ronald Reagan. They fought back with humor in public art performances. In the 1980s the group’s collaborative practice gave voice to illegal abortion victims, homeless women, immigrants from Central America and others. By using real women’s narratives, Mother Art personalized issues of social justice. This book is a visual catalog of the collective’s projects, exhibits, performances and installations. It includes essays by art historian Jeanne S. M. Willette, PhD, Otis College of Art and Design and historian Michelle Moravec, PhD, Rosemont College, quotes, personal narratives and a time line of Mother Art’s activities.
