fig.001 — Faith Wilding performing "Waiting" at "Womanhouse," Los Angeles, California, 1972
Wilding (born 1943 in Primavera, Paraguay) depicts symmetrical dualities: up and down, in and out, open and closed, evoking mystical, personal, and esoteric narratives. The works express interconnectedness and spiritual exuberance while exploring the visionary iconology of the energy and force of growth.
Wilding's practice emerged at the forefront of Feminist Art in Los Angeles during the late 1960s and 1970s. For the last 50 years, Wilding has lived as an activist and artist fiercely committed to eco-feminism. Wilding was a co-initiator of the "Feminist Art Programs" alongside Miriam Shapiro and Judy Chicago.
The Feminist Art Program produced "Womanhouse," an art installation and performance space focusing on collaborative and feminist ideas. Fueled by the explosion of female-focused work and research, "Womanhouse" sought to move beyond the predominantly male-centric art history. Wilding's work continues to interrogate societal narratives, challenging the status quo in art-making, life, and politics.
Wilding has exhibited extensively worldwide since the late 1960s. A 2014 retrospective of Wilding's work, "Fearful Symmetries," traveled to five venues across the United States. Wilding's work was also included in the seminal survey "WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution," organized by Cornelia Butler, which traveled from the Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles) to the National Museum of Women (Washington, D.C.), PS1 Contemporary Art Center (Long Island), and the Vancouver Art Gallery.
2023 marks the fiftieth anniversary of "Womanhouse," an influential Los Angeles exhibition, installation, and performance space organized through the "CalArts Feminist Art Program." At "Womanhouse," Wilding's "Womb Room" fiber installation and performance "Waiting" are some of the best-known and highly influential works of the 1970s Feminist Art Movement. Wilding's book "By Our Own Hands" catalogs this important era of experimentation and collaboration that defined west-coast Feminist art during the early 1970s.
fig.002 — Faith Wilding in her studio working on "Natural Parables," 1978
fig.003 — Faith Wilding featured in "Arrows of Desire," Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 2021
Wilding has exhibited at museums such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; the Drawing Center, New York, NY; Documenta X, Kassel, Germany; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA; the Singapore Art Museum, Singapore; the Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid, Spain; the Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, Scotland; and the Bronx Museum of Art, New York, NY. Wilding is Professor Emerita of Performance Art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has taught at Cooper Union, New York University, the Woman's Building in Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Art Institute.
While teaching at Carnegie Mellon University in the 1990s and 2000s she was a co-founder of the cyber-feminist collective "subRosa." Wilding was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2009 and has been the recipient of numerous grants for the past five decades. 2014, she was awarded the prestigious Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award. Her publications include "By Our Own Hands: The History of the Women Artists Movement in Southern California, 1970–76" (Double X, 1977) and "Domain Errors! Cyberfeminist Practices!" (Autonomedia, 2003). Wilding lives and works in Rhode Island.
fig.004/005 — Faith Wilding featured in "Where Art Might Happen: Early Years of CalArts," Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover, Germany, 2019
fig.006 — Faith Wilding featured in "Ecstatic," Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, California, 2023
fig.007/008 — Faith Wilding featured in "Condo," Galeria Jaqueline Martins, São Paolo, Brazil, 2020
fig.009 — Faith Wilding, 1977
fig.010/011 — Faith Wilding "Being Like Leaves," Bortolami, New York, New York, 2022
fig.012 — Faith Wilding "Un-Natural Parables," Western Exhibitions, Chicago, Illinois, 2017
fig.013/014 — Faith Wilding featured in "Womanhouse," Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, California, 2022
dailyart.org
September 2022
Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles (Carla)
Rachel Elizabeth Jones, October 2021
The Boston Globe
Cate McQuaid, September 2021
Artsy
Juliana Lopez, October 2020
Artillery
August 2019
Artforum
Andy Campbell, May 2019
Los Angeles Times
Leah Ollman, February 2019
Columbia College Chicago
La Keisha Leek, February 2019
Bomb
Heidi Norton, February 2018
Pittsburgh City Paper
Bill O'Driscoll, February 2018
Art in America
Lauren DeLand, February 2018
Carnegie Mellon University
Pam Wigley, January 2018
Chicago Tribune
KT Hawbaker, December 2017
New City Art
Luke Fidler, December 2017
Art News
November 2017
Reader
Kerry Cardoza, November 2017
Artsy
Isabella Scott, October 2016
Glasstire
Robert Boyd, September 2016
Studies in the Maternal
Faith Wilding, Hyla Willis, 2016
Los Angeles Times
Sharon Mizota, December 2015
Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles (Carla)
Benjamin Lord, November 2015
Artforum
Travis Diehl, September 2015
Art Matters
June 2015
Memphis Flyer
Eileen Townsend, September 2014
Visual Art Source
Robin Dluzen, Feburary 2014
Artforum
Jason Foumberg, February 2014
New City Art
Jason Foumberg, January 2014
Hyperallergic
Alicia Eler, January 2014
The New York Times
Helen A. Harrison, November 1998
The New York Times
M.G. Lord, February 1995
fig.001 © Faith Wilding; Photo Credit: Lloyd Hamrol
fig.002 © Faith Wilding
fig.003 © Faith Wilding
fig.004 © Faith Wilding; Photo Credit: Raimund Zakowski
fig.005 © Faith Wilding; Photo Credit: Raimund Zakowski
fig.006 © Faith Wilding and Hammer Museum; Photo Credit: Charles White
fig.007 © Faith Wilding
fig.008 © Faith Wilding
fig.009 © Faith Wilding
fig.010 © Faith Wilding and Bortolami; Photo Credit: Guang Xu
fig.011 © Faith Wilding and Bortolami; Photo Credit: Guang Xu
fig.012 © Faith Wilding and Western Exhibitions
fig.013 © Faith Wilding and Anat Ebgi; Photo Credit: Matthew Kroening
fig.014 © Faith Wilding and Anat Ebgi; Photo Credit: Matthew Kroening
fig.001 — Faith Wilding performing "Waiting" at "Womanhouse," Los Angeles, California, 1972
Wilding (born 1943 in Primavera, Paraguay) depicts symmetrical dualities: up and down, in and out, open and closed, evoking mystical, personal, and esoteric narratives. The works express interconnectedness and spiritual exuberance while exploring the visionary iconology of the energy and force of growth.
Wilding's practice emerged at the forefront of Feminist Art in Los Angeles during the late 1960s and 1970s. For the last 50 years, Wilding has lived as an activist and artist fiercely committed to eco-feminism. Wilding was a co-initiator of the "Feminist Art Programs" alongside Miriam Shapiro and Judy Chicago.
The Feminist Art Program produced "Womanhouse," an art installation and performance space focusing on collaborative and feminist ideas. Fueled by the explosion of female-focused work and research, "Womanhouse" sought to move beyond the predominantly male-centric art history. Wilding's work continues to interrogate societal narratives, challenging the status quo in art-making, life, and politics.
fig.002 — Faith Wilding in her studio working on "Natural Parables," 1978
Wilding has exhibited extensively worldwide since the late 1960s. A 2014 retrospective of Wilding's work, "Fearful Symmetries," traveled to five venues across the United States. Wilding's work was also included in the seminal survey "WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution," organized by Cornelia Butler, which traveled from the Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles) to the National Museum of Women (Washington, D.C.), PS1 Contemporary Art Center (Long Island), and the Vancouver Art Gallery.
2023 marks the fiftieth anniversary of "Womanhouse," an influential Los Angeles exhibition, installation, and performance space organized through the "CalArts Feminist Art Program." At "Womanhouse," Wilding's "Womb Room" fiber installation and performance "Waiting" are some of the best-known and highly influential works of the 1970s Feminist Art Movement. Wilding's book "By Our Own Hands" catalogs this important era of experimentation and collaboration that defined west-coast Feminist art during the early 1970s.
fig.003 — Faith Wilding featured in "Arrows of Desire," Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 2021
Wilding has exhibited at museums such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; the Drawing Center, New York, NY; Documenta X, Kassel, Germany; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA; the Singapore Art Museum, Singapore; the Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid, Spain; the Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, Scotland; and the Bronx Museum of Art, New York, NY. Wilding is Professor Emerita of Performance Art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has taught at Cooper Union, New York University, the Woman's Building in Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Art Institute.
While teaching at Carnegie Mellon University in the 1990s and 2000s she was a co-founder of the cyber-feminist collective "subRosa." Wilding was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2009 and has been the recipient of numerous grants for the past five decades. 2014, she was awarded the prestigious Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award. Her publications include "By Our Own Hands: The History of the Women Artists Movement in Southern California, 1970–76" (Double X, 1977) and "Domain Errors! Cyberfeminist Practices!" (Autonomedia, 2003). Wilding lives and works in Rhode Island.
fig.004/005 — Faith Wilding featured in "Where Art Might Happen: Early Years of CalArts," Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover, Germany, 2019
fig.006 — Faith Wilding featured in "Ecstatic," Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, California, 2023
fig.007/008 — Faith Wilding featured in "Condo," Galeria Jaqueline Martins, São Paolo, Brazil, 2020
fig.009 — Faith Wilding, 1977
fig.010/011 — Faith Wilding "Being Like Leaves," Bortolami, New York, New York, 2022
fig.012 — Faith Wilding "Un-Natural Parables," Western Exhibitions, Chicago, Illinois, 2017
fig.013/014 — Faith Wilding featured in "Womanhouse," Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, California, 2022
dailyart.org
September 2022
Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles (Carla)
Rachel Elizabeth Jones, October 2021
The Boston Globe
Cate McQuaid, September 2021
Artsy
Juliana Lopez, October 2020
Artillery
August 2019
Artforum
Andy Campbell, May 2019
Los Angeles Times
Leah Ollman, February 2019
Columbia College Chicago
La Keisha Leek, February 2019
Bomb
Heidi Norton, February 2018
Pittsburgh City Paper
Bill O'Driscoll, February 2018
Art in America
Lauren DeLand, February 2018
Carnegie Mellon University
Pam Wigley, January 2018
fig.001 © Faith Wilding; Photo Credit: Lloyd Hamrol
fig.002 © Faith Wilding
fig.003 © Faith Wilding
fig.004 © Faith Wilding; Photo Credit: Raimund Zakowski
fig.005 © Faith Wilding; Photo Credit: Raimund Zakowski
fig.006 © Faith Wilding and Hammer Museum; Photo Credit: Charles White
fig.007 © Faith Wilding
fig.008 © Faith Wilding
fig.009 © Faith Wilding
fig.010 © Faith Wilding and Bortolami; Photo Credit: Guang Xu
fig.011 © Faith Wilding and Bortolami; Photo Credit: Guang Xu
fig.012 © Faith Wilding and Western Exhibitions
fig.013 © Faith Wilding and Anat Ebgi; Photo Credit: Matthew Kroening
fig.014 © Faith Wilding and Anat Ebgi; Photo Credit: Matthew Kroening
© Faith Wilding, Anat Ebgi, and the involved institutions,
For inquiries, please contact info@anatebgi.com
© Faith Wilding, Anat Ebgi, and the involved institutions,