When you think of the feminist movement you might initially think of Susan B. Anthony, but in terms of this century let’s chat about Judy Chicago. 

Working primarily in the 1970s and on, Judy Chicago started out with minimalistic art eventually expanding into sculpture and collaborative projects later in her career. Her early works express her journey to capture the female orgasm with pieces like Let It All Hang Out and When Women Rule the World. Although provocative, Chicago is best remembered by her Dinner Party. 

The Dinner Party, created in 1989, reflects Chicago’s impressive artistic abilities with the integration of ceramics, embroidery, sculpture and painting into one cohesive piece. She creates a homage to the women of the world with an open triangle of equality, dividing the threes side by period beginning with Prehistory to Classical Rome, Christianity to the Reformation, and the American Revolution to the Women’s Revolution. 

Within the installation Chicago mentions 1,038 women, and 39 receive their own place setting with a plate combining the female form and aspects of the individual woman. In addition to the place settings, Chicago inscribes another 999 female names on the Heritage Floor, which acts as the base of piece. 

In art history you don’t see a lot of women, let alone the celebration of women on their own terms. By Chicago claiming the female sexual organ as her own and remembering those who stood against the hierarchy of men she creates the foremost piece of feminist art in the 21st century.