Abstract |
Review
"'Pretty Raw' has occasioned an excellent book, "The heroine Paint: After Frankenthaler," overseen by Ms. Siegel and just published by Gagosian Gallery. The title taken from a 1960 poem by her close friend Barbara Guest sharpens the idea that Frankenthaler altered painting s gender balance irrevocably, and to an extent that we are only beginning to appreciate." - Roberta Smith, "The New York Times" "How gratifying and long overdue to see a woman artist presentedas a starting point of art history rather than an afterthought, an add-on, or a footnote to the usual male-centered narrative." -Judy Chicago, artist "Helen Frankenthaler and her descendants remind us that our art isnever just what we make it s how we make it, what we wear, howwe pose, what we say, who we know. This staggering, complexbook is a required reading for every woman artist who has hoped(and labored) to be taken seriously." -Miranda July, filmmaker, artist, and writer Helen Frankenthaler s talent, skill, perseverance, grit, and idiosyncratic approach to her work continue to inspire artistic souls of all genders to this very day. She is proof that nothing is ever impossible and talent is sexless. -Jack McCollough & Lazaro Hernandez, founders and designers at "Proenza Schouler" "It s great to have a history of painting that doesn t erase identity.In this book, bodies tell the story, they embody the knowledgeand the feeling a way of communicating that we could call female, or queer, or just more open. This history makes room, a kind ofhistorical community, for contemporary artists working with humor, color, pleasure, and everyday life; a really welcome corrective topurely formalist accounts." -Nicole Eisenman, artist "A juicy, wildly necessary book that formidably and playfullydecenters the 'recent' history of painting by dropping the stylishHelen Frankenthaler right on center stage as painting s trueabstract heroine of nextness. This flagrant and righteous visiongets backed up by a wyrd chorus that includes Marilyn Minter, Mike Kelley, Carrie Moyer, Polly Apfelbaum, Carroll Dunham, Cecily Brown, K8 Hardy, Amy Sillman, and Kara Walker, the tomeitself ending with the exquisite language: Hello, bitches." -Eileen Myles, poet "A brilliant, revisionary act of bringing forward "The heroine Paint," this groundbreaking collection on Helen Frankenthaler, her world, andher wide-ranging influence is not just restorative, but regenerative.An inspiration for anyone seeing or making art from the mid-twentiethcentury until now and onward, alive and well, into the future." -Jorie Graham, poet "Katy Siegel's The heroine Paint is revisionist in the best sense.Thisfresh accountoffers a doublereward: you encounter fascinating artists you neverbefore knew, while being releasedfrom thecritical paradigms and cliches that have kept their work out of the standard art histories." -Richard Shiff, Effie Marie Cain Regents Chair in Art at The University of Texas at Austin"""
About the Author
Katy Siegel is a contributing editor to Artforum and the editor in chief of Art Journal, as well as a Professor of Art History at Hunter College and Chief Curator of the Hunter College Galleries. |