My trip to the Brooklyn Museum

My experience at the Brooklyn Museum was extremely enjoyable. I was able to bring two close friends with me who would appreciate what the museum had to offer and was even able to explain some of the women artists at The Dinner Party to them. First and foremost I enjoyed the idea behind this – a party/banquet commemorating talented female artists and shedding light on feminist art. Although there were 39 place settings (of vaginal –like ceramics) all were still unique.

 The room itself is powerful from the shape to the lighting. There were quite a few people in the room while we were walking around and it was still so powerfully silent. It’s almost like those viewing felt proud at the fact that we were able to honor these female artists. I recognized a few names. Such as ones that we al have heard about in history like Sacajawea and Sojourner Truth.

 I then came across names that we have discussed and learned about via lectures and class discussions: Christine de Pisan, Artemisia Gentileschi and Georgia O’Keeffe. I enjoyed Artemisia’s place setting. It was very grand and I feel it depicted her time period well (17^th century) – especially the gold colors and the velvet fabrics. The setting and the plate itself looked “strong” and “powerful” in my opinion. Perhaps because I was already familiar with her story. Georgia O’Keeffe’s place setting was rather simple however, that is because all of the attention is within her plate. It is very noticeable, detailed and big – perhaps to symbolize her significant career as a female artist during her time.

Especially after watching the video in class early last week – I am happy that Judy Chicago’s, The Dinner Party was able to once again be on display (with or without controversy) and I am happy that I am able to say that I have seen it and understood it. My favorite part was wither the ceramic pieces and how Judy Chicago could make something so “controversial” feel so normal but also look beautiful and each were so similar but so different, at the same time.

The exhibit that The Dinner Party was in was also interesting and we spent much of our time in that section of the museum, just talking and asking each other’s opinions based on some of the artwork. I know we have talked about The Personal Is Political in class before and I also took notice to that in one of the galleries. Whether I am agreed with or not, I too believe that a woman's personal experiences are often rooted based political stances and gender inequality - to this day.