Who is CeCe McDonald and why were they incarcerated?
CeCe McDonald is a trans activist who was arrested in 2011 after being involved in a fight outside Schooner Tavern, after another bar patron directed hateful slurs their way and later initiated violence.
McDonald was arrested for stabbing a Dean Schmitz, who later died from his wounds and injuries. After initially confessing to the attack, McDonald would later claim to be covering for friends.
McDonald argued self defense, but ended up serving 19 months in prison and was released in January of 2014. Since being released, McDonald works an activist for both trans issues and prison reform.
Where can I find Frida Kahlo in The Dinner Party?
Kahlo's name appears on the Heritage floor tiles near the place setting for Georgia O'Keeffe. While Kahlo was celebrated and exhibited during her life---including an exhibition at the MoMA in the 1930s---by the 1970s, when Judy Chicago was creating The Dinner Party, Kahlo had been largely excluded from the art history canon.
Chicago was first made aware of Kahlo's work by her friend Arlene Raven in a letter sent while Chicago was travelling in Mexico. Then, a retrospective of Kahlo's work at MCA Chicago in 1978 sparked wider knowledge of her work, especially among feminists. Judy Chicago later wrote a book reflecting on Kahlo's work, published in 2010.
Who is "Elizabeth R" and how is this pattern significant to her?
At The Dinner Party, Elizabeth R is Queen Elizabeth I of England. The artist, Judy Chicago, chose to refer to her this way because that is how the queen signed documents and referred to herself.
The designs used in the place setting are inspired by portraits of Elizabeth created during her lifetime. The lace beneath the plate specifically refers to the wide ruffs that were popular at the time.
Thank you!
Can you tell me more about this?
These are the entry banners to The Dinner Party, an installation by Judy Chicago in the triangular room at the center of this gallery space.
The banners display excerpts from a poem by Chicago and were embroidered by the same workshop that created the 39 runners on the table in The Dinner Party.
Chicago says the poem "reflects my dream of a world made whole by the introduction of feminine values through art."
What's this about?
Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski is inspired by Greco-Roman mythology but applies her own female perspective and populates her work with queer people and people of color.
Fellow artist Isissa Komada-John has described Moleski's
work as "queer-femme futuristic myth making."
What is their gender pronoun?
Mark Aguhar used she/her pronouns.
And what was her sexuality?
I'm not certain. In everything I'm reading, she is referred to as "queer." Her artwork is much more about gender expression and affirmations of identity.
Thank you.
What are they trying to do?
This painting is intentionally ambiguous: is the blue figure protecting and cradling the red one? or is it trapping them and holding them down?
That's what I’m wondering haha!
Yes! The artist has left it open to interpretation.
Felipe Baeza is interested in "how the body undergoes fragmentation or is pulled apart and dismembered, then reconstructed."
So I think in this tension, both things may be happening: being held down could be the same as being held together. Conflict can create growth.
Can you tell me more about this?
This work reminds us of the multiplicity of accounts and somewhat mysterious history surrounding the Stonewall uprising and the early days of the Gay Rights movement.
There wasn't a lot of documentation of the uprising and no photographs so we have to rely on word of mouth. A great example of this is the 2014 NYT article that presented a history of the uprising as if only gay men where involved.
A correction was issued the following day that said "at least one lesbian was involved." The lesbian they were referring to was Stormé DeLarverie, for whom this work is named. But there were likely plenty more women involved!
Can you tell me about "Happy Birthday Marsha"?
Marsha P. Johnson was a key figure in 1960s queer activism. A transgender woman who was known to often be bedecked with flowers and a wide smile, Johnson championed causes such as STAR: Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries.
In this video, filmmakers Tourmaline and Sasha Wortzel imagine Johnson's life on the night of the Stonewall uprising. They imagine what Johnson must have been feeling as tensions built toward that fateful rebellion.
Tourmaline and Wortzel use archival footage, as well as interviewing people who knew Marsha Johnson and her friend the poet Sylvia Rivera, who also appears in this film.
The filmmakers said, "We wanted to be with and entangled among our ancestors and share that entanglement with the world."
Is she still alive?
Sadly, Martha P. Johnson was found dead in the Hudson River in 1992. Her death was first considered a suicide, but friends and fellow activists demanded further investigation. The case was reopened and remains unsolved.
Thank you.
Could you tell me more about the artist?
And their use of witch hands?
First, the nom de plume of the artist (not their real name!) Hugo Gyrl is a pun. If you say it aloud, it sounds like "You go girl!" Very fun.
Witch hands are a key feature in their work. They reference the women who lived on the periphery of society, as well as the power of feminism, in whatever form it may exist (queer, femme, girl, woman, etc.)
Hugo Gyrl is based in New Orleans, a city with a history of witchy-ness, which I think definitely influences their work. They travel widely though, and their street art can be found all over NYC.
