Louise Nochlin discusses two major post-greatness points in Louise Bourgeois' work and how they represent feminist concerns. Nochlin also argues that a profound change has been women's relationship to public space, which used to be seen as the lowest form of prostitution for women but is now an important area for women to be socially engaged and respected. Nochlin calls for considering women not just as visible presences in public spaces but as important shapers and constructors of public spaces through their art and monuments.

1. Concluding Remarks Women, Art, & Culture—Summer 2011

2. Why have there been no great women artists? 1970 Louise Bourgeois, Torso: Self Portrait 1963-1964 “The miracle is, in fact, that given the overwhelming odds against women, or blacks, that so many of both have managed to achieve so much sheer excellence in those bailiwicks of white masculine prerogative like science, politics, or the arts” (Nochlin 231).

3. Why have there been no great women artists? 2000 Louise Bourgeois, Mamelles, 1991 “Nothing less than the transformation of the canon itself in terms of certain feminist, or at least, gender-related priorities” (Nochlin 24).

4. Louise Bourgeois Couple, 1996 Nochlin says there are 2 major “post greatness points” in Bourgeois’ work. How do you see them being represented? How are these also connected to feminist concerns?

5. The importance of the “public sphere” Nochlin argues that one “profound change” that has taken place in the last thirty years is women’s relationship to public space. What’s so important about public space?

6. Women (Artists) in Public Public man = “admirable, politically active, socially engaged, known, and respected” while Public woman = “the lowest form of prostitute” (Nochlin 25). Musicians, as we saw in Girls Rock! have to challenge this representation often, particularly early performers like Joan Jett.

7. Rachel WhitereadHolocaust Memorial (Vienna), 2000 “We must consider woman not merely as a visible presence in the public space, but in her practice as a highly visible and original shaper and constructor of it” (Nochlin 26).

8. Monuments of a “new and different sort” Maya Lin Vietnam Veterans’ War Memorial, 1982 Jenny Holzer For the Guggenheim, 2008

9. Lilith Fair, 1998 “Women may have—and wish to construct—a very different experience of public space and the monuments that engage with it than their male counterparts” (Nochlin 27).

10. “Feminist art history is a transgressive and antiestablishment practice meant to call many of the major precepts of the discipline into question” (Nochlin 30).

11. Intersectionality in Women’s Art “Women artists, of all kinds, are talked about, looked at, have made their mark—and this includes women artists of color” (Nochlin 28) Sandra Cisneros, right

12. Barbara KrugerUntitled (No), 1985 “Now, more than ever, we need to be aware not only of our achievements but of the dangers and difficulties lying in the future. We will need all our wit and courage to make sure that women’s voices are heard, their work seen and written about. That is our task for the future” (Nochlin 31).