Unspeakable acts Women, art, and sexual violence in the 1970s

Seasoned art critic and PEN award-winning Princenthal (Agnes Martin, 2015) revisits the darkly rampaging 1970s and calls out the courageous women artists who bridged the divide between protest and art to confront a reality no one was speaking out about: sexual violence. She sets the scene with precision, from rising street crime in deteriorating cities to escalating violence by antiwar activists, a surge in sadistic pornography, and crushing silence about rape. Into this maelstrom strides daring feminist artists who are creating a new and controversial practice called performance art. In this uniquely focused and vitally analytical history, Princenthal recognizes an underappreciated facet of revolutionary art, and dramatically captures the bravura, shocking, at times media-savvy, in other cases stunningly covert performances of Yoko Ono, Suzanne Lacy, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Ana Mendieta, Adrian Piper, and Marina Abramovi, as well as the ferocious pictorial work of Nancy Spero. The risks they took, the anger aroused by their exposure of society's indifference toward or complicity in sexual crimes against women, and the intellectual underpinnings of their work are all expertly elucidated in Princenthal's unprecedented and searing inquiry.--Donna Seaman Copyright 2019 Booklist

A potent study of feminist art and activism of the 1970s.Art in America contributing editor Princenthal (Art Writing/School of Visual Arts; Agnes Martin: Her Life and Art, 2015, etc.) provides a riveting analysis that unfolds alongside an introduction to feminist conversations of the era. Clearly grasping the scope and complexity of her subject, the author contextualizes the stumbles and stamina of feminism, addressing objectification and exploitation while focusing on artists' pivotal acts of defiance, which brought heightened awareness to taboo or underdiscussed topics. Examining Yoko Ono's Cut Piece, Ana Mendieta's haunting installations, Valie EXPORT's Action Pants: Genital Panic, and other projects, Princenthal shows how much of the art in this milieu shocked audiences with challenging notions of culpability and consent. The author also exposes diverse responses to violence that often inverted assumptions about spectatorship, participation, and victimhood by inviting audiences to become witnesses. Looking at long-running performance pieces like Adrian Piper's Mythic Being and Lynn Hershman Leeson's Roberta Breitmore series, Princenthal explores how art handled both the performativity of gender and the tension between vulnerability and violence. The author's thorough handling of pieces like Nancy Spero's epic Torture of Women, Suzanna Lacy's Three Weeks in May, and others highlight the potency of the work, and she handles the racialization of sexual violence with acuity. Paying attention to the groundbreaking work of artists giving voice to sexual violence, Princenthal plainly establishes art's significant contributions to social change movements. "In the spectrum of dramatic injuryof harm organized for maximum emotional as well as physical impactsexual violence occupies a uniquely potent, and unstable, place." The author's layered treatment of artistic influences, trends, and debates offers a precise snapshot of the context that fueled conversations about and depictions of violence. Ending her excellent primer to 1970s feminist art with a forward-looking view, Princenthal extends her insights into the realm of contemporary issues.A concise and vital view of art and social change. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.