Presented in conjunction with their publication Modern Women: Women Artists at the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) hosted a symposium last Friday on Art Institutions and Feminist Politics Now. Through multiple presentations and panel discussions, artists and curators of various specialties started to examine what effect feminist politics and gender specifically have in their work and curatorial practice.  They discussed the political impact of their curatorial choices as feminists, along with the extent to which certain feminist and queer images are silenced within larger art institutions (museums, biennales, art fairs, etc.).

Notable participants included curators Camille Morineau (Musee national d’art moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris) Ivet Curlin (What, How & for Whom Collective, Croatia) Catherine Lord (author of the forthcoming Art and Queer Culture, 1885-2005), and Connie Butler (Chief Curator of Drawings at MoMA) along with artist Sonia Khurana, and author Michelle Wallace, among others.

While an effort was made to convey the slowly changing tide of feminist politics within mainstream art institutions, overall I felt there was a tangible lack of pushing the political boundaries therein and even some of MoMA’s curators admitted to suffering from self censorship. However, the mere existence of these panel discussions signals a hopeful note for the expansion of more radical examinations of gender, sexuality, patriarchy and feminist politics both at MoMA and other venues within the US and abroad.

One participant, Emily Roysdon, spoke specifically about the artistic freedom of working outside major art institutions in LTTR, a feminist genderqueer artist collective.  Founded in 2001 and recently disbanded, the group produced an annual art journal along with various events and collaborations that highlighted “radical communities whose goals are sustainable change, queer pleasure, and critical feminist productivity.”  Though they often collaborated with MoMA and other galleries on specific workshops and presentations, the collective sought to be a radical outlet for artists to speak uncensored about relevant feminist/queer topics.

Since the dissolution of LTTR as a formal group, Roysdon has continued working as an artist and curator.  She has written about and developed projects around the concept of Ecstatic Resistance, which seeks to re-imagine both what is possible and what political protest looks like.  It is partially inspired by a statement in Kathy Acker’s essay Seeking Gender, which I think is appropriate to the ways in which feminism and dismantling patriarchy play into Roysdon’s creative practice.

“I am looking for the body, my body, which exists outside its patriarchal definitions. Of course that is not possible. But who is any longer interested in the possible?”

You can read more about her work and Ecstatic Resistance here.

It was inspiring to see that while radical feminist politics are only slowly gaining a foothold in more mainstream creative venues, groups such as LTTR can successfully function outside of them.  During one panel discussion, the question was asked if artists and curators can reclaim institutions by being anti-institutional.  Judging by Roysdon’s continued work both in and out of LTTR, challenging these institutions is certainly a step in the right direction. Through their collective work, LTTR was able to produce projects, exhibitions and journals which looked critically at feminism and the dismantling of patriarchal, binary cultural structures.

Though For the Birds seeks to foster creative spaces for feminist voices in broader ways than solely visual art, I am encouraged by LTTR as an example of using artistic resources to discuss and examine feminist and queer politics. Stay tuned for more upcoming events and please get in touch if you have possible opportunities and collaborations!