Tuesday, July 20th at 8pm ET: PBS Books presents this Author Talk with Judy Chicago about her book The Flowering: The Autobiography of Judy Chicago. This event will be a time for our viewers to get to know America’s most dynamic living artist. Known for her extraordinary and genre-defying art, such as The Dinner Party, Birth Project, Holocaust Project, and more, Chicago is a trailblazing feminist and a champion of using art to express visions and challenge boundaries. PBS Books is honored to learn more about Chicago alongside viewers nationwide, as she explores her own personal journey to becoming a multi-talented American icon. This special event will showcase the stories behind her works and celebrate her lifelong aim: a more just and equitable world for all beings. This conversation will be led by Jessica Porter, Lila Harnett Executive Director of ArtTable, Inc. : the foremost professional organization dedicated to advancing the leadership of women in the visual arts.
About the Book
Chicago’s 2021 book The Flowering is an answer to and reflection upon her previous autobiographical writings, as well as a crucial update to her story of resilience. Written on the eve of her first-ever career retrospective at the age of eighty-two, the book unearths stories behind some of her most groundbreaking artworks. After decades on the margins of the art world, which devalued her work for its feminist content, Chicago continues to pave the way for a new generation of rising trailblazers. In addition, her perspective as a woman artist guides this narrative. Chicago shares, both from decades of experience and extensive research, stories of how misogyny, racism, and other prejudices often intersect to erase the legacies of artists. In further exploring her own life, Chicago reinforces her message of resilience for artists, activists, and all audiences.
“The Flowering,” Chicago writes in the book’s Introduction, “chronicles my journey as a white, cis, middle-class Jewish woman who learned about the potential power of art through the widespread positive response to her work despite art critical scorn; who had to build a community of support when there was none; who never swerved from her vision, no matter how difficult her life became; and who ultimately triumphed by not giving up. My struggle has sometimes been overwhelming and dispiriting but in the end it was worth it. I hope my readers will find my tale as inspiring as I did when I first discovered the long struggle of my foremothers, who paved the way for so many of the freedoms we enjoy today.”
About the Author
Judy Chicago is an artist, author, feminist, and educator whose career spans nearly six decades. Her work is in the collections of The Art Institute of Chicago, The Brooklyn Museum, The British Museum, the de Young Museum, The Getty Trust, The Hammer Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Moderna Museet in Stockholm, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, SF MOMA, Tate Modern, and more than 25 university art museums.
