Life on earth: ecofeminist art since 1970

Dates to be announced

Life on Earth: Ecofeminist Art since 1979 is a group exhibition that surveys four decades of ecofeminist thought and action in art. Ecofeminism is a theoretical, academic, and activist movement that locates critical connections between gender oppression and the exploitation of natural resources. It developed throughout the early 1980s from the environmental, anti-nuclear, and feminist movements; in addition to its primary concerns around the subordination of nature and women, ecofeminism sought to resist racism, homophobia, and the capitalist patriarchy. As quickly as the movement was developed, artists began adopting an ecofeminist position in their work, producing ambitious and often site-specific projects that addressed systems that reinforced the subjection of women and nature. This has remained a central undercurrent in feminist art today, and yet surprisingly ecofeminist art has not been widely examined outside of certain academic circles. As the twenty-first century progresses with concern for life in the age of the anthropocene, there is a need to address and re-address the history of ecofeminist art, action, and thought and the deeply meaningful issues it has long brought to light. Works in this exhibition address themes including intersectional environmentalism, environmental racism, indigenous rights, frontier masculinity, witchcraft, lesbian separatism, social ecology, hydrosocialism, reproductive issues, and science fiction, among others.

This exhibition will take place at LAXART and at sites to be announced. A series of events is being planned in conjunction with the show, including a symposium that will bring together scholars, artists, activists, and art historians around the topic.

This exhibition is curated by Catherine Taft.

Lead support is provided by Margaret Morgan and Wesley Phoa. Additional support provided by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.