O’Keeffe, the trailblazer
Georgia O'Keeffe. Oriental Poppies, 1927. Oil paint on canvas, 76.2 x 101.9 cm. The Collection of the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Museum Purchase, 1937.1 © Georgia O’Keeffe Museum
“The men liked to put me down as the best woman painter. I think I’m one of the best painters.”– Georgia O’Keeffe
Georgia O’Keeffe spent much of her career railing against the persistent gender divide in the art world, and she chafed at being defined as a woman artist as early as the 1930s. Although exhibitions, such as Georgia O’Keeffe, and publications repeatedly reveal the breadth and depth of O’Keeffe’s artistic accomplishments as being “about more than just erotic flowers,” her work and life continue to be framed by the paintings and photographs that first made her notorious, while details of her private life are often sensationalized in the headlines.
“While O’Keeffe is that rare artist who is a woman yet not unknown, her work and career are often treated as though they belong to America’s twentieth century pulp fiction,” says Georgiana Uhlyarik, coordinating curator of the AGO’s Georgia O’Keeffe exhibition. “Ironically, O’Keeffe’s own resistance throughout her career to an erotically evocative reading of her paintings fuels this discussion even more intensely.”
To explore the issue further, we invited three artists whose works are acclaimed for their interesting and nuanced takes on gender and identity to join us for a conversation on these issues. “I Thought There Would Be More Vaginas”: Artists on Gender is a panel discussion that is sure to get to the heart of the matter. Georgia O’Keeffe curator Georgiana Uhlyarik; poet, novelist and performer Eileen Myles; Cree/Saulteaux/Métis visual and performance artist Lori Blondeau; and musician, filmmaker and writer Vivek Shraya will examine how issues of tokenism, authenticity and oppression impact the experiences of woman-identified artists today.
“I Thought There Would Be More Vaginas”: Artists on Gender takes place on Monday, June 26 at 7 pm. For tickets and info, click here.
Georgia O’Keeffe enters its final month soon! Have you seen it yet? Click here for tickets. If you’re an AGO Member, you see it free.
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