A SANTA FE SOLSTICE
Artist Judy Chicago partners with Canyon Road gallery to highlight climate crisis
Feminist artist Judy Chicago is teaming up with Santa Fe’s Turner Carroll Gallery to put the spotlight on the summer solstice. Chicago, whose Through the Flower Art Space is based in Belen, is inviting artists from around the world to submit works in all media that “envision a better future for the Earth,” according to an April 29 press release.
The works will be displayed online and in Turner Carroll’s gallery on Canyon Road. The exhibition, which will be titled
“Solstice: Create Art for Earth,” will debut on June 20, to coincide with the summer solstice.
Submissions must be received by June 1, and will be curated by Chicago and Tonya Turner Carroll, owner of the Santa Fe gallery.
Artworks submitted and chosen for the show will be sold through Turner Carroll Gallery. Ten percent of the proceeds will be donated to Through the Flower, the nonprofit founded by Chicago in 1977 aimed at promoting women’s art.
Artists are asked to submit images and an accompanying video describing
their work on Instagram with the hashtag #createartforearth and tagging @ turnercarrollgallery.
Those submitting works are asked to consider the following questions:
What are the major problems facing the world today?
Can you create an image or images depicting those challenges?
What kind of world would you like to see?
How can we achieve that? and
Can you “picture” a world of equality and justice?
Chicago, who is most famous for her iconic 1970s piece “The Dinner Party,” a radical work of art that serves up replicas of female genitalia on plates, has been focused on the dangers of climate change as of late.
Along with street artist Swoon, Hans Ulrich Obrist and the Serpentine Galleries in London, and others, she has launched #createartfor earth in an effort to encourage artists to address the perils of climate change.
However, Chicago’s interest in environmental matters dates to the 1980s, when she was commissioned by
Greenpeace to create a poster that supported the group’s ocean interventions. The Amsterdam-based nonprofit founded in the 1970s has often been the subject of controversy for its aggressive tactics to prevent whaling and other activities it deems to be against its pro-Earth principles.
Chicago hopes to use the solstice project art to bring the same level of attention to the Earth’s challenges as she has brought to the contributions of women during her six-decade career, according to a statement.
At the Through the Flower Art Space in Belen, visitors can learn about the history of Chicago’s art as well as the work of her photographer husband Donald Woodman.
The Turner Carroll Gallery was founded in 1991 by Tonya Turner Carroll and Michael Carroll. It exhibits international contemporary art by both established and emerging artists. Since its beginning, the Turner Carroll Gallery has been committed to artwork that brings about social change, according to a statement.