During the 1960s, Brazilian artist Amelia Toledo submerged plastic sculptures into the sea, transforming them into hybrid pieces of artificial and natural materials. Later, in the 1970s, New York painter Emily Mason focused on watercolors to spare herself more time to foster her daughters at her studio. In 1980, Howardena Pindell made her seminal video, Free, White and 21, to call out racial injustice through the immediacy of moving images. A decade later, Latinx photographer Laura Aguilar debuted her black-and-white triptych, Three Eagles Flying, which shows her nude body entangled in a rope as well as Mexican and American flags. Another West Coaster, Helen Pashgian, previously brought her meaningful sculptures to the fore. And through it all, Jane Freilicher was crafting her enchanting still life paintings. Though these female artists have often been overlooked by illustrious institutions in the past, a number of new exhibitions are calling attention to their important work. Below, AD examines the lives, oeuvres, and current shows of these six exceptional women—just in time for Women’s History Month.
A painting by Jane Freilicher in the Kasmin Gallery show.
Photo: Courtesy of Kasmin GalleryJane Freilicher
Between the 1950s and 1990s, Brooklyn-born artist Jane Freilicher painted many still lifes that captured small moments within domestic life. “There has always been a sense of the fragility of life imbued in her work,” the artist’s daughter, Elizabeth Hazan, tells AD. Kasmin Gallery’s current exhibition proves “she [c]ould make intimate paintings that capture both a kind of melancholy and her radiant response to the freshness and beauty of things.”
A head-turning piece by Helen Pashgian.
Photo: Joshua White
