Feminist cartoonist Aline Kominsky-Crumb, a pioneering figure of the 1970s underground comics scene, died at 74. Kominsky-Crumb’s comics address the complex emotional and physical lives of women, including topics ranging from masturbation to abortion, to hairy armpits. She influenced generations of comic artists and writers: her influence is visible in “every woman who creates her own cartoon voice,” said Roz Chast, a renowned New Yorker cartoonist.
In the 1970s, Kominsky-Crumb was a founding member of the all-female collective that produced the anthology Wimmin’s Comix (1972–85), and cofounder of the comic Twisted Sisters, which addressed a wide range of women’s issues. “I have stayed out of the mainstream my entire life, partially because the work itself determines that it’s not mainstream work. We started our comics off in the revolutionary underground. I was a painter with a degree in fine art, and I chose to do stuff that could be read on a toilet,” she told Artforum.
Front-Page Femmes
Marlene Dumas is among several artists donating art for Amnesty International’s sale to raise money for women’s rights.
Judy Chicago teamed up with Nadya Tolokonnikova from Pussy Riot to transform her “What if Women Ruled the World?” series into a feminist blockchain-enabled artwork.
Michaelina Wautier, a 17th-century Dutch artist, finally gains widespread recognition as an exhibition of her work opens in Boston.
A new book shines a light on the relationship between critic and publicist Aline Louchheim and architect Eero Saarinen, highlighting how Louchheim’s words were integral to Saarinen’s legacy.
Estonia just announced that artist Edith Karlson is lined up to represent the country at the 2024 Venice Biennale Pavilion, Artnews reports.
Country singer Dolly Parton plans on opening a museum in Nashville, which will be part of the “Dolly Center,” possibly also housing a restaurant and bar.
A retrospective exploring the works of German-Venezuelan Artist Gego is currently on view at the Museo Jumex and coming to the Guggenheim Museum in New York in March.
Activists staged a “die-in” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Assyrian Sculpture Court in solidarity with protesters in Iran, organized by the group Woman Life Freedom NYC.
Artnet features Pia Camil, who is known for her large-scale, community-generated installations that call attention to the machinations of brutal global commodities trading.
Shows We Want to See
In Praise of Trees: Woodcuts by Naoko Matsubara at the Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, New York, showcases the work of the contemporary Japanese-Canadian print artist Naoko Matsubara. Her work is rooted in her childhood experiences at Kenkun Jinja, the Shinto shrine in Kyoto where her father was chief priest. On view through May 21, 2023.
The Art Institute of Chicago presents Himali Singh Soin: Static Range, the first U.S. solo exhibition of the artist and writer. Static Range is an ongoing multimedia project that explores the intertwined histories and futures of nuclear landscapes. On view through May 15, 2023.