The Future is Female features selections from the LUAG Teaching Museum Collection

In printmaking, The Future Is Female, but so is the past. With or without the visibility they deserve, women artists have engaged the art of printmaking from the beginning.  Requiring technical mastery, physical strength, and stamina, printmaking—or the art of producing multiple images or impressions from a single plate or matrix—has its origins in 8^th century Japan where designs were rubbed onto paper from wooden blocks.  By the 15^th century in Europe, the availability of inexpensive paper and the invention of the printing press led to a proliferation of printed images in a variety of techniques.  The second half of the 20^th century witnessed an explosion of interest in the creative potential of printmaking methods such as etching, engraving, lithography, woodcut, and silkscreen among others. Today, women artists continue to use these various techniques to tell their stories, exploring themes such as gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and/or economic class.

In 1966, James Brown sang “It’s a man’s world!” Over the past year that statement has been shaken to its knees. Feminism, women’s rights, and women’s stories are front and center in the United States and across the world. The #MeToo and #TimesUp movements have empowered women to continue speaking up about issues of sexual harassment and assault. A record number of women are running for political office, and – although much work remains to be done – women are and being celebrated in every field imaginable.

This exhibition highlights contemporary women artists in the LUAG Teaching Museum permanent collection, including Faith Ringgold, Janet Fish, Maud Morgan, Matsubara Naoko, Françoise Gilot, Nancy Spero, Marisol Escobar, Bridget Riley, Carmen Herrera, Belkis Ayón, and Käthe Kollwitz.

Exhibition hours are Monday – Friday 8 AM – 10 PM and Saturday 8 AM – 5 PM.

EVENTS AT A GLANCE

SEP 20  Join us for a reception celebrating our fall exhibitions.   Welcome our new director, Dr. William Crow.  Main Gallery, Zoellner Arts Center, 6-8 PM.  

OCT 18  Gallery talk about The Future is Female with professor Lucy Gans, The Gallery at Rauch Business Center, 6 PM.  Reception to follow.

DEC 01  Farewell reception for LUAG director/chief curator Ricardo Viera, Main Gallery, Zoellner Arts Center, 3-6 PM.

DEC 10  Study night at the museum, LUAG Lower Gallery, Zoellner Arts Center, 6-11 PM.  Refreshments and snacks provided.  For LU students only.

All LUAG events are free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated.  All programs subject to change.  Please call 610.758.3615 for more information.