Description
I have long admired the work of two artists: post-impressionist British modernist Vanessa Bell, and American feminist Judy Chicago. My After the Dinner Party was inspired by two specific works of theirs: Vanessa Bell’s 1932 commissioned Famous Women Dinner Service and Judy Chicago’s 1970’s elaborate The Dinner Party.
Bell’s goal, along with her painting partner Duncan Grant, was to celebrate remarkable women such as Theodora, Queen Victoria, Anna Pavlova, and Virginia Woolf. The dinner service includes 50 plates decorated with portraits of the above, in addition to other famous women throughout history and from across the world.
I first saw Judy Chicago’s iconic installation The Dinner Party at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in 2011. I was captivated by the large triangular table with 13 place settings on each side, making a total of 39 place settings. The settings celebrated famous women throughout history including Ishtar, Judith, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Artemisia Gentileschi, Mary Wollstonecraft, Sojourner Truth, and Virginia Woolf. Each setting included an embroidered table runner, napkin, utensils, a glass or goblet, and a representative ceramic plate. Chicago states that her goal “involved teaching women’s history to a broad audience through a visually accessible work of art.”
Housed in a hand-decorated box, my After the Dinner Party includes 24 embellished paper-based plates celebrating 24 women artists and their work. Artists such as Anne Hamilton, Betye Saar, Wangechi Mutu, and Eva Hesse are included.
