Judy Chicago: “Women, don’t stop fighting”

Warning for all cup lovers illy: the new collection was presented, the 119th, on sale from July. Very colourful, it is signed by Judy Chicagothe multitalented American artist and pioneer of the Feminist Art Movement, who for years, tackling the theme of gender disparity with her works, has been painting, sewing, embroidering and creating pyrotechnic installations. This time, in the four new cups of illy Art Collection, puts her vivid and vibrant tones into it, «to illustrate the transition from social constraints historically imposed on women to a place of cultural and creative freedom. They are the representation of female figures of historical relevance belonging to different eras: the Queen of France Marie Antoinette, Madame de Staël, novelist, philosopher and political essayist, the feminist writer George Sand and the writer Virginia Woolf».

And so the iconic cup, designed in 1992 by Matteo Thun and already decorated by famous artists such as, among many others, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Anish Kapoor, Robert Wilson and Ai Weiwei, now takes up the rainbow of Judy Chicago: «I worked extensively on color with the aim of creating different emotional states through the different shades. In this historical moment it seems even more important to bring people a rainbow of light, art and beauty to inspire hope and, through a visual metaphor, suggest the possibility of a positive change».

These cups somehow represent female figures of historical significance belonging to different eras: in what sense?
«One of my goals as an artist has been to overcome the erasure of women’s contributions to the world of culture. I have done it in different ways: with art, with literature (I am the author of 14 books, including my latest work, an autobiography entitled The Flowering), more recently through fashion – with a line of Dior bags – and now with the new illy Art Collection. The cups recall some paintings from my series Great ladies and are a tribute to important women in history. The cup in which pink and yellow predominate, for example, represents the Queen of France Marie Antoinette: the pastel colors I have chosen are light and evanescent and recall delicacy, grace, elegance and joy. While in the cup dedicated to Virginia Woolf I chose to use a contrast between warm and cold colors to convey the idea of ​​a fascinating and cursed character, capable of enclosing an irrepressible genius in a troubled soul. Instead, I used warm and orange tones to celebrate the passion of George Sand, a woman in whom everything speaks of freedom and independence».

You have always fought for women’s rights: where do you think we are?
“Unfortunately, in many parts of the world we are going backwards: I am thinking of the recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United States which overturned the sentence “Roe against Wade” which recognized women’s right to abortion; or the Taliban in Afghanistan who prevent girls from getting an education or women from working; or, again, to Putin who criminalizes feminism by transforming Nadya Tolokonnikova (one of the founders of the Pussy Riot collective) into one of the most wanted criminals in Russia. There is still a long way to go to redesign the political and social order, starting from the role of women”.

Women and art. Who is the artist you recommend knowing?
«The fifteenth-century writer Christine De Pisan, an antelitteram feminist, whose most famous work
Livre de la Cite des Dames inspired installation The City of Ladies curated by Massimiliano Gioni, part of my upcoming exhibition at the New Museum in New York: an exhibition within an exhibition that will reexamine my artistic work in relation to many other female artists from different eras. A path that tells of a totally feminine artistic paradigm ready to undermine the patriarchal system that has always characterized the history of art, also demonstrating that feminism as a philosophy was already born in the fifteenth century with the querelle des femmestriggered by Christine De Pisan’s book, which quickly spread throughout Europe».

If art cannot change the world, it can however “educate” it, give lessons: it
which one would you like to pass above all?
“My legacy as an artist, writer, and troublemaker who tried to contribute with her art: never stop fighting.”

Coming to this project and the illy cups: what sensation would you like to add to the coffee moment?
«Beauty and introspection. A cup of coffee can also mean taking a good time to
reflect”.

What does he do in his moments of break and relaxation?
«Every day I take time out to exercise: I also regularly practice yoga».

Source: Vanity Fair

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