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Action | gesture | paint : women artists and global abstraction, 1940-70 / edited by Laura Smith.

Contributor(s): Publication details: London : Whitechapel Gallery, 2023.ISBN:
  • 9780854883134
Subject(s):
Contents:
Directors' introduction / Bice Curiger, Gilane Tawdros, Christina Végh
Between a rock and a hard place / Griselda Pollock
Areas in which to act / Laura Smith
Material | process | time / Elizabeth A. T. Smith
Myth | symbol | ritual / Candy Stobbs
Being | expression | empathy / Agustin Pérez Rubio
Performance | gesture | rhythm / Joan A. Marter
Environment | nature | perception / Iwona Blazwick
Artists' biographies
List of works
Image credits
Acknowledgments
Summary: Drawing on the avant-garde movements of both expressionism and surrealism, the women of abstract expressionism redefined artistic practice as an immersive arena for action, process and consciousness. Their paintings were regarded not as images but as events. Although the movement officially began in mid-century USA, it quickly - through myriad means - spread around the world and became a catalyst for redefining ideas around aesthetics, poetry, philosophy and politics. This publication, accompanying a major European touring exhibition, includes works by 40 artists from across the globe: Mary Abbott, Etel Adnan, Maliheh Afnan, Ruth Armer, Gillian Ayres, Ida Barbarigo, Noemí Di Benedetto, Anna-Eva Bergman, Janice Biala, Bernice Bing, Sandra Blow, Dusti Bongé, Chinyee, Wook-kyung Choi, Jay DeFeo, Martha Edelheit, Amaranth Ehrenhalt, Asma Fayoumi, Lilly Fenichel, Perle Fine, Else Fischer-Hansen, Audrey Flack, Elna Fonnesbech-Sandberg, Juana Francés, Helen Frankenthaler, Sonia Gechtoff, Judith Godwin, Gloria Gómez-Sánchez, Elsa Gramcko, Sarah Grilo, Grace Hartigan, Lilian Holt, Buffie Johnson, Yuki Katsura, Helen Khal, Elaine de Kooning, Lee Krasner, Bice Lazzari, Lifang, Bertina Lopes, Margaret Mellis, Marta Minujín, Joan Mitchell, Aiko Miyawaki, Yolanda Mohalyi, Nasreen Mohamedi, Emiko Nakano, Lea Nikel, Tomie Ohtake, Fayga Ostrower, Mercedes Pardo, Charlotte Park, Betty Parsons, Pat Passlof, Alice Rahon, Carol Rama, Marie Raymond, Judit Reigl, Deborah Remington, Britta Ringvall, Erna Rosenstein, Behjat Sadr, Nadia Saikali, Zilia Sánchez, Fanny Sanín, Miriam Schapiro, Sarah Schumann, Ethel Schwabacher, Sonja Sekula, Toko Shinoda, Sylvia Snowden, Janet Sobel, Vivian Springford, Franciszka Themerson, Alma Thomas, Yvonne Thomas, Hedwig Thun, Nína Tryggvadóttir, Elsa Vaudrey, Maria Helena Vieira da Silva, Michael West.
Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Status Date due Barcode
Book Book CGLAS Library Red 759.0652 SMI (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Checked out 12/03/2025 12663

Published on the occasion of the exhibition held at the Whitechapel Gallery, London, 9 February-7 May 2023; Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles, 3 June-22 October 2023; Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 2 December 2023-3 March 2024.

Includes bibliographical references.

Directors' introduction / Bice Curiger, Gilane Tawdros, Christina Végh

Between a rock and a hard place / Griselda Pollock

Areas in which to act / Laura Smith

Material | process | time / Elizabeth A. T. Smith

Myth | symbol | ritual / Candy Stobbs

Being | expression | empathy / Agustin Pérez Rubio

Performance | gesture | rhythm / Joan A. Marter

Environment | nature | perception / Iwona Blazwick

Artists' biographies

List of works

Image credits

Acknowledgments

Drawing on the avant-garde movements of both expressionism and surrealism, the women of abstract expressionism redefined artistic practice as an immersive arena for action, process and consciousness. Their paintings were regarded not as images but as events. Although the movement officially began in mid-century USA, it quickly - through myriad means - spread around the world and became a catalyst for redefining ideas around aesthetics, poetry, philosophy and politics. This publication, accompanying a major European touring exhibition, includes works by 40 artists from across the globe: Mary Abbott, Etel Adnan, Maliheh Afnan, Ruth Armer, Gillian Ayres, Ida Barbarigo, Noemí Di Benedetto, Anna-Eva Bergman, Janice Biala, Bernice Bing, Sandra Blow, Dusti Bongé, Chinyee, Wook-kyung Choi, Jay DeFeo, Martha Edelheit, Amaranth Ehrenhalt, Asma Fayoumi, Lilly Fenichel, Perle Fine, Else Fischer-Hansen, Audrey Flack, Elna Fonnesbech-Sandberg, Juana Francés, Helen Frankenthaler, Sonia Gechtoff, Judith Godwin, Gloria Gómez-Sánchez, Elsa Gramcko, Sarah Grilo, Grace Hartigan, Lilian Holt, Buffie Johnson, Yuki Katsura, Helen Khal, Elaine de Kooning, Lee Krasner, Bice Lazzari, Lifang, Bertina Lopes, Margaret Mellis, Marta Minujín, Joan Mitchell, Aiko Miyawaki, Yolanda Mohalyi, Nasreen Mohamedi, Emiko Nakano, Lea Nikel, Tomie Ohtake, Fayga Ostrower, Mercedes Pardo, Charlotte Park, Betty Parsons, Pat Passlof, Alice Rahon, Carol Rama, Marie Raymond, Judit Reigl, Deborah Remington, Britta Ringvall, Erna Rosenstein, Behjat Sadr, Nadia Saikali, Zilia Sánchez, Fanny Sanín, Miriam Schapiro, Sarah Schumann, Ethel Schwabacher, Sonja Sekula, Toko Shinoda, Sylvia Snowden, Janet Sobel, Vivian Springford, Franciszka Themerson, Alma Thomas, Yvonne Thomas, Hedwig Thun, Nína Tryggvadóttir, Elsa Vaudrey, Maria Helena Vieira da Silva, Michael West.