What if Women Ruled the World?

Finding her strong voice to stand out in a male-dominated world, Judy Chicago opened the way for generations of women artists. Enriched by the distinctive spirit of collaboration that brings it to life, her work stems from the belief that art is a vehicle for enlightenment and social transformation. This winter, Jeffrey Deitch presents for the first time in the United States What if Women Ruled The World?, Judy Chicago’s astonishing installation comprised of eleven monumental appliqué, handmade brocade and velvet banners. What if Women Ruled the World? was created as part of The Female Divine, a historic collaboration between Chicago and Dior’s creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for the Spring/Summer 2020 haute couture collection. Chicago’s towering installation formed the centerpiece of Dior’s runway presentation at the gardens of The Musée Rodin in Paris in January 2020. Judy Chicago’s tapestries confront the viewer with provocative questions that challenge gender stereotypes and the most fundamental expressions of our culture and universal experience. Amplified by the opulence of colors and the softness of textures, these essential and thought-provoking questions wave the foundations for new paradigms. Would Men and Women Be Equal? Would God Be Female? Would the Earth Be Protected? While the banners are reminiscent of medieval heraldic tapestries, they are in fact fiercely anti-patriarchal and uphold a new order based on equality and empowerment. In Western culture, textile arts have conventionally been—accurately or not—associated with a female sphere. Chicago’s tapestries elevate the militant power of these crafts. Her works inherently celebrate the human connections made from shared stories, knowledge and opinions developed during the labor-intensive process of production. Each of the embroideries was meticulously realized by female students at the Chanakya School of Craft, in Mumbai—a nonprofit organization that teaches women artisanal techniques that in India are traditionally practiced only by men. What if Women Ruled the World? at Jeffrey Deitch is organized in conjunction with the presentation of Judy Chicago’s three interpretations of the iconic “Lady Dior” bag as part of the fifth edition of Dior Lady Art. This project extends Chicago’s goal of infusing fashion with greater meaning. Judy Chicago (b. 1939, Chicago) is an artist, author, feminist, and educator whose career spans over five decades. Since 1996, she has lived in Belen, New Mexico, where her nonprofit arts organization, Through The Flower, is headquartered and where an art space and resource center has being established. Recent exhibitions include Judy Chicago: A Reckoning, ICA Miami, Miami, FL (2018-2019); Roots of The Dinner Party: History in the Making, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY (2018); and Inside the Dinner Party Studio, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C. (2017-2018). In the fall of 2019, Judy Chicago: Los Angeles was presented at Jeffrey Deitch’s Los Angeles Gallery. A retrospective survey of Judy Chicago’s work will be held at the De Young Museum in San Francisco in August 2021.