San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
“Judy Chicago: Cohanim” at the Contemporary Jewish Museum
“Birth Power” 1984, textile:
In the 1980s, Chicago explored depictions of motherhood and childbirth in “Birth Project,” a subject she was interested in reframing.
“In ‘Birth Power’ a fiery female figure emerges from a black silk background through exquisite linear needlework,” says Silverman of the textile, comparing it also to a “feminist genesis or phoenix rising from ashes.”
In mentioning the mythological and religious themes, Silverman also notes that Chicago is descended from 23 generations of rabbis, “so her knowledge of the Old Testament is deep. But her spiritualism is more environmentalist, more eco-feminist, more universal.”
“New Time: Art and Feminisms in the 21st Century” at Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
“Grand Snake Arm 3” 2008, sculpture:
Among the works featured in this exhibition, which explores feminist practices in art, is this sculpture depicting a silver snake slithering up a red, translucent arm that has a hand balled into a fist.
“New Time” curator Apsara DiQuinzio calls Chicago “a vital trailblazer for feminism for the last five decades since establishing the Feminist Art Program at Fresno State College in 1970,” and notes that the work “speaks to female strength and resilience in a patriarchal
“Anthem” 2018, painting:
Chicago’s “Cohanim” series is one of four exhibitions that make up the CJM’s “Leonard Cohen Experience,” which celebrates the late singer-songwriter.
Curator Heidi Rabben says that Chicago’s title refers to the plural of the name Cohen, a Jewish surname that “goes back to Aaron, the first rabbi. In ancient times rabbis had to be descendants of Aaron, the Cohanim.” Cohen is also the last name Chicago was born with.
“What’s lovely about this piece is she’s realigned with her surname as a gesture of reclamation,” Rabben says.
Chicago was a longtime fan of Cohen, and the works in the series respond to particular songs or lyrics of his.
“Anthem” depicts the moment in the same-titled song lyrics — “There’s a crack in everything, that’s where the light gets in” — with a lightning-boltlike crack intersecting with a bright beam, something Rabben calls “representative of Leonard Cohen’s outlook.”
“He embraced conflict, flaws, challenging moments,” Rabben continued, “creating space for what defines the human condition.”
“Bird on a Wire,” 2018, painting:
Rabben says this work, also inspired by a Cohen song, is one of three versions of this same concept seen in the exhibition.
“You can tell she concentrated on it, it was meaningful,” Rabben says. “The way she speaks about Leonard Cohen, she says his lyrics express her feelings at different points in her life. She’s isolating lyrics that hit her hard and got her inspired.”
With “Bird on a Wire,” Rabben says Chicago is trying to convey “that feeling everyone can relate to, of taking a leap of faith, trying to take flight and be free.”