UHCL to host first retrospective for influential feminist artist

August 11, 2016 | Kelsie Cleboski

Catch a glimpse into the life’s work of a feminist art icon in a new exhibition at the University of Houston-Clear Lake Art Gallery. Join artist Faith Wilding and exhibition curator Shannon Stratton for the opening reception of “Faith Wilding: Fearful Symmetries” Sept. 1, 6-8 p.m., at the UHCL Art Gallery, Bayou Building, 2700 Bay Area Blvd., Houston.

UHCL Art Gallery’s Coordinator of Audience Development Jeff Bowen said the exhibition represents a number of firsts for the UHCL Art Gallery - it’s the first nationally touring exhibition to visit the UHCL Art Gallery as well as Wilding’s first solo show in a Texas visual arts space.

While primarily known for her performance and installation work, Wilding has also created significant pieces on paper, with a number of them included in “Fearful Symmetries.” The exhibition features images of change, such as leaves and butterfly metamorphoses, that reflect Wilding’s consistent themes of waiting and becoming as a part of the female experience, Bowen said.

“Faith possesses a technical mastery of form and a keen eye for color in her craft. Because of the cohesion of the individual artworks that make up the whole, I think that the audience will appreciate a visual rhythm that is created throughout the entire exhibition,” he added.

A few of the larger pieces of the full exhibition have been omitted due to space constraints, but the UHCL showcase will feature “Flow,” a piece that includes cheesecloth draped between two containers holding dye. As curator of the show, Stratton said the unique setup of the piece makes it an active part of the gallery show.

“The work functions like a time-based watercolor that ‘makes itself’ throughout the exhibition as the dye is absorbed by the cloth and travels along its length,” she said.

At the opening reception, the audience will also hear Stratton in conversation with the artist.

“There will be some discussion about the making of the exhibition from a curatorial point of view as well as a collaborative one. Faith is really co-curator of her show,” she said, noting they will also discuss Wilding’s formative years and aspects of her work that are not included in “Fearful Symmetries.”

Faith Wilding first became known for her role in second wave feminist art in the early 1970s as a founding member of the Feminist Art Program in Fresno, California and at the California Institute of the Arts. She was also a featured artist in “Womanhouse,” a 1972 art installation that transformed a run-down Hollywood mansion into an exploration of women’s fantasies, desires and fears, particularly those related to domestic environments. As part of the installation, Wilding performed her poem “Waiting,” later published in Ms. magazine. A video of that performance, as well as the companion piece “Wait-With” from 2007, will play as part of “Fearful Symmetries.”

Stratton said these artistic milestones opened important doors in the art world.

“The Feminist Art Program and ‘Womanhouse’ are both significant moments in art history, as they frame the emergence of a distinctly feminist political art that inspired generations of artists since,” she said.

Judy Chicago, a former teacher of Wilding’s and one of the founders of both the Feminist Art Program and “Womanhouse,” has also shown her work at UHCL. In 1980, her controversial installation “The Dinner Party” drew many visitors to the university. Another exhibition in 2011, “Setting the Table,” offered a behind-the-scenes look at Chicago’s previous UHCL show, and her collaborative quilt piece “Birth Trinity” remains on display on the second floor of Atrium II of the Bayou Building.

Wilding is a professor emerita of performance art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and continues to create, write, teach and speak about feminist art and theory. She is also a co-founder of subRosa, a cyberfeminist art collective with a focus on social activism, politics and art.

UHCL is the fourth stop of the exhibition’s national tour, which began at the Threewalls gallery in Chicago. “Fearful Symmetries” will remain on display at the UHCL Art Gallery until Dec. 8, and the gallery is open 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 9 a.m. - noon on Friday. Admission to the gallery is free, and free parking will be available during the opening reception in Student Lot D. The exhibition is presented with help from Verva Densmore and is partly funded by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance.

To learn more about the exhibition or the gallery, visit www.uhcl.edu/artgallery. For donor or sponsorship opportunities, email Executive Director of Development and Alumni Relations Dwayne Busby at busby@uhcl.edu or call 281-283-2019.