New Harmony by Miriam Schapiro, 1980,
Fabric and paint on canvas
Collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art
Artist Miriam Schapiro died at the venerable age of 91 a few months ago. She was an innovative artist who had great influence on my generation of artists in the 1970s.
Miriam Schapiro (1923-2015)
Grandma Bolero, by Miriam Schapiro, 1980
Golden Pinwheel by Miriam Schapiro, 1979
There was ART, and there was craft.
There was ART and there were female artists.
Mimi's Baby Bonnet by Miriam Schapiro, a print
Detail of Bed by Robert Rauschenberg, 1950
Robert Rauschenberg could use a found quilt
in a collage of sorts but his aggressive piece
had nothing to do with the woman who sewed it...
Unlike Schapiro's use of patchwork in her "Femmages."
Female + Collage = Femmage
Wonderland by Miriam Schapiro, 1983
acrylic paint, fabric and beads on canvas
90" x 144-1/2"
Collection of the Smithsonian
It's 12 feet wide.
By 1980 we were all thinking like Schapiro. Even if we weren't using her ideas we had come to accept them as valid.
Miriam Schapiro, Foliate Fan, 1979
Another rebellion was her use of pattern. These assemblages were "decorative," to use an insult in the days of abstract expressionism.
Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro in front of a
1972 installation Womanhouse.
It was a long time ago in philosophical years.
Read some obituaries at these links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/25/arts/design/miriam-schapiro-91-a-feminist-artist-who-harnessed-craft-and-pattern-dies.html
http://moorewomenartists.org/remembering-miriam-schapiro/
Mayan Garden,
Collection Crystal Bridges Museum
I was delighted to come across this piece last year in the Arkansas museum.
Snips of floral fabric and paint.
Spend a little time doing a web search for her work and recall Miriam Schapiro's contributions and vision. I searched for: Images: Miriam Schapiro Fan
And buy this book before the price goes up.