5 Fast Facts: Dream Teams and #5WomenArtists

Blog Category:  5 Fast Facts
Eve Sussman, <i>Women in S-Bahn</i> (Photographic still from <i>The Rape of the Sabine Women</i>), 2005; Chromogenic color print, 39 3/8 x 51 1/4 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Heather and Tony Podesta Collection; Photo by Lee Stalsworth
March 1, 2023
3/1/23

Across time and place, artists have come together to experiment, collaborate, and co-create. From prehistoric cave paintings and Renaissance workshops to 19th-century quilting bees and second-wave feminist artist groups, women have always collectively contributed to visual culture. 

Impress your friends with five fast facts about some of the contemporary collectives represented in NMWA’s collection.    

1. Heresies Collective

Six founding members of the Heresies Collective (1976–1993), including May Stevens (1924–2019), appear in her painting SoHo Women Artists (1978). The group’s enduring legacy is its quarterly journal, Heresies: A Feminist Publication on Art and Politics (1977–1993). Each issue highlighted one salient theme, including activism, lesbian art and artists, working women, and racism, addressed by contributors. 

Life-sized, full-length portraits of 12 individuals form a frieze-like composition against a saturated lapis-blue background. Most of those portrayed are noted feminist artists and critics. Details from the artist's earlier paintings appear above and to the right of the figures.
May Stevens, SoHo Women Artists, 1978; Acrylic on canvas, 78 x 142 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Museum purchase: The Lois Pollard Price Acquisition Fund; © May Stevens and Ryan Lee Gallery, New York

2. Gluklya and Tsaplya a.k.a Factory of Found Clothes

Russian feminist artists Natalia Pershina-Yakimanskaya (Gluklya) (b. 1969) and Olga Egorova (Tsaplya) (b. 1968), a.k.a Factory of Found Clothes (1995–2014), joined forces to create work featuring clothing as signifiers of identity, stereotypes, and power. In Triumph of Fragility (2002), uniformed military cadets march through the streets of St. Petersburg carrying delicate white dresses, challenging biased dichotomies of masculine strength and feminine weakness. 

Natalya Pershina-Yakimanskaya, Olga Egorova, Gluklya and Tsaplya, Untitled (from Triumph of Fragility), 2001; Cloth, 44 1/2 x 23 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Heather and Tony Podesta Collection

3. The Icelandic Love Corporation a.k.a Gjörningaklúbburinn (The Performance Club)

The Icelandic Love Corporation (ILC) (est. 1996) creates interdisciplinary art infused with wit, fantasy, and spectacle to critique and counteract contemporary life. ILC’s earliest work, Kiss Performance (1996), involved members kissing each other and the camera on live television. Where Do We Go from Here? (2000) is from a photographic series and accompanying poem recalling an elfin (mis)adventure. 

Close-up of a light-skinned woman in profile looking to the left. She is wearing all white including a bonnet and she is holding her hand up as if to shield her eyes from the sun.
Icelandic Love Corporation, Where Do We Go from Here?, 2000; Laserchrome print mounted on Diasec, 27 1/2 x 27 1/2 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Heather and Tony Podesta Collection; © Icelandic Love Corporation

4. Eve Sussman and The Rufus Corporation

In 2003, Eve Sussman (b. 1961) founded The Rufus Corporation, a fluid group of artists, writers, performers, and programmers. Together they create expansive film projects and installations that explore contemporary themes by dissecting historic works of art. The Rape of the Sabine Women (2005) retells an ancient Roman myth as a 1960s period piece.

Eve Sussman, Women in S-Bahn (Photographic still from The Rape of the Sabine Women), 2005; Chromogenic color print, 39 3/8 x 51 1/4 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Heather and Tony Podesta Collection; Photo by Lee Stalsworth

5. Mwangi Hutter

Ingrid Mwangi (b. 1975) and Robert Hutter (b. 1964) met and married in the late 1990s, and the boundaries between their individual practices faded. In 2005, they merged identities attributing all artwork, past and future, to Mwangi Hutter. Using a variety of media, they explore themes ranging from confronting violent histories to human interconnectivity. 

The grey figure of a man fades into the background. Curled up in the man's arms, a woman's figure is painted in black and pops against the light background. Streaks of black paint drip from her figure to the bottom of the canvas.
Mwangi Hutter, There is Comfort in Disappearing, from the series “Union,” 2014; Ink and aquacryl on canvas, 59 x 59 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of the Tony Podesta Collection, Washington DC; © Mwangi Hutter

Curious about other genius groups? Read about the Guerrilla Girls (est. 1985) and Jane and Louise Wilson (b. 1967).

About the Author

—Co-authored by NMWA educators Adrienne L. Gayoso, Ashley W. Harris, Deborah L. Gaston, and Michelle Koppl

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