Judy Chicago The Dinner Party

Judy Chicago The Dinner Party 

Emily Dickinson place setting 

Judy Chicago’s installation of The Dinner Party in the Brooklyn Museum represents 1,038 important mythical and historical woman-39 women are represented by individualize place setting and another 999 names are inscribed on the Heritage Floor on which the table rests. What I found most mesmerizing about the art installation was the way in which the table was placed in the dim light. When I first heard The Dinner Party, I expected a table setting but what I imagined was different than what was actually presented. I went to the museum with one of my friends and her first reaction was that the paintings on the plate looked like vaginas. I agree and when I learned about it further in class, it was actually depicting vaginas. I was shocked by the amount of controversy on the art piece because of its vaginal imagery. I don’t see how something so pretty can be seen as something so unpleasant by so many men- to the point that they’re offended by it. All of the place settings had beautiful embroidery. Among the 39 women represented in the individual place settings, my favorite was Emily Dickinson. She was my favorite, the reason being that the plate was so intricate. The flower was light pink, and it bloomed off the plate. The color scheme was very soft and subtle but pleasing to the eye. Besides Emily Dickinson, I recognized a few other place settings for individuals like Artemisia Gentileschi as well as Christine de Pisan. These two place settings were similar in color but the floral design on the plate was much different than Emily Dickinson. They were not three dimensional. Usually, I do not go to museums often and when I do, I don’t find myself paying close attention to the fine details. But with this assignment, after paying close attention to detail, I find it amazing how feminist art can be instilled. I think the men who were against the showcasing of The Dinner Party is not because they don’t like it. Rather, they feel threatened that a woman, more specifically, a woman artist, can create something that draws the attention of the public. 

Works Cited 

- information from the mini tablet outside the installation

- information from class during lecture