CWC Docs: !Women Art Revolution

Comprised of four decades’ worth of interviews and gleaned from over two hundred hours of footage, Lynn Hershman Leeson’s !Women Art Revolution provides an insightful exploration of the “secret history” of feminist art. The film sheds light on this under-explored movement through archival footage and conversations with the artists, curators, critics, and historians who brought it to life. Tracing its origins back to the antiwar and civil rights movements of the 1960s, the documentary charts significant developments in women’s art throughout the 1970s and beyond. Its title pays homage to Women Artists in Revolution (WAR), a coalition established in the 1960s to address the unique challenges confronting female artists.

The film documents the tenacity and courage of these trailblazing artists in dismantling the barriers faced by women, showcasing how their efforts culminated in what is now widely recognized as the most significant art movement of the late twentieth century. With a rousing score by Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein, the film features appearances by Miranda July, Marina Abramović, Yoko Ono, Cindy Sherman, Barbara Kruger, The Guerilla Girls, Yvonne Rainer, Judy Chicago, B. Ruby Rich, Ingrid Sischy, Carolee Schneemann, Miriam Schapiro, Marcia Tucker and countless other groundbreaking figures.

This event was presented in conjunction with the exhibition A Box of One’s Own: Women Beyond Borders, organized by the Art, Design & Architecture Museum at UC Santa Barbara and curated by Letícia Cobra Lima, UCSB History of Art & Architecture PhD candidate.

In this event, filmmaker Lynn Hershman Leeson joined moderator Letícia Cobra Lima (PhD candidate, History of Art & Architecture, UCSB and curator of A Box of One’s Own) for a live virtual post-screening discussion.