ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR – JORGE GUERRERO
ORIGINALLY PRINTED ON APRIL 6, 2023
Around the world, International Women’s Day is globally celebrated annually. Still, the United States takes the day one step further by making the entire month of March Women’s History Month, celebrating women’s contributions to history and contemporary society. This Women ́s History Month, the McNay Art Museum opened a special exhibition called “Womanish: Audacious, Courageous, Willful Art.”
The exhibit is inspired by Alice Walker ́s 1974 essay, “In Search of Our Mothers ́ Gardens: Womanist Prose.” The title of this exhibition reclaims the term “Womanish,” often considered derogatory, and turns it into a term of empowerment. Walker defined the term as: “Usually referring to outrageous, audacious, courageous, or willful behavior.” The Womanish exhibition highlights the myriad ways women express themselves in different art mediums.
This unique exhibition seeks not only to give powerful women the attention and praise they have rightfully earned but also to address some of the harsh realities that women have had to experience for generations. This gallery showcases artworks by individuals who carve out space to explore culture, history and identity. While some works of art take inspiration from dance, poetry and celebration, others confront the painful realities of history. One notable art piece in the exhibition that does this is Elizabeth Catlett ́s linocut art piece, “Sharecropper,” which illustrates a fatigued Black woman in a straw hat standing outside in the sun. With her art, she sought to convey the experiences and issues Black Americans have had to endure. While Catlett’s work addresses social and racial inequities, it also communicates her desire for change and hopes for the future.
Some artists in this gallery find inspiration through careful observation of their environment. Portraying scenes from nature and studies of the human body, they merge scientific inquiry and artistic investigation. One powerful art piece from the gallery that touches on this theme is “Trauma” by Chinese American artist Hung Lui. For this piece, Liu found inspiration in pre-revolutionary Chinese photographs of the disenfranchised; she completed this painting in 1989, following the Tiananmen Square massacre. The artwork features red outlines of Beijing ́s Forbidden City floating over acupuncture point diagrams. Liu ́s passport photo is at the bottom right of the map, and a figure from a Cultural revolution- era propaganda opera symbolizes the government ́s history of control.
Although women have created art for tens of thousandsof years, the world largely excludes them from history. Many overlooked artists or artists who were omitted due to their gender are getting rediscovered. While institutions have made strides to fill the gaps in their collections and exhibitions, they still need to do much work. Art enthusiast and St. Mary ́s sophomore student Liliana Barron, communications, said the following about the exhibition: “I think it ́s incredible that the McNay made such an outstanding push to finally put women in the spotlight for this exhibit. The artists touch on a variety of sensitive subjects, and it makes me happy that the museum has given them this platform to send their message.”
Womanish: audacious, Courageous, Willful Art features a broad range of objects the McNay acquired over the past dozen years. Envisioned as a second chapter to their 2010 exhibition, “Neither Model or Muse,” which celebrates women from across the museum’s collections, like Georgia O ́Keefe. Womanish includes portraits, abstractions, landscapes and more that exemplify a broad range of lived experiences and represent many sources of inspiration. The exhibition is on view until July 2 as a special exhibition for an extra charge of $10 when you visit.