Artwork Description
Judy Chicago – Into the Darkness
Dimensions: 26.5 x 26.5″ framed / 24 x 24″ unframed
Year: 2008
Medium: lithograph on paper
Edition: 34/50
Judy Chicago’s “Into the Darkness” is the converse of her “Through the Flower” image. “Into the Darkness” features floral petals that are still closed, beckoning the viewer to enter the void, represented by the circular central image. This circular image is symbolically linked to creation, fertility, and infinity in the history of art. Judy Chicago, having self-educated herself in the symbolism inherent in artwork by women artists throughout history, identified the circular image as a recurring, central core image in their works. Adopting the image in her work here, Chicago is seemingly identifying the passage through the dark void as a necessary precursor to the experience of unfolding the flower and experiencing the fullness of life as a woman.
Judy Chicago’s artworks are found in the permanent collections of the world’s top museums. Gloria Steinem, upon introducing her long time friend as she was being honored by the Hammer Museum, famously said she could define art history as before and after Judy Chicago. There are numerous monographs and books about Judy Chicago, including the most recent monograph published by National Museum of Women in the Arts. Art historians and curators can search the Judy Chicago Portal, which combines her archives at Harvard, Penn State, and National Museum of Women in the Arts. In 2020 Judy Chicago completed a widely acclaimed collaboration with Dior Couture in Paris, in which her Female Divine monumental sculpture was erected outside the Rodin Museum in Paris and housed her banners posing the question “What if Women Ruled the World?” Read more about why Dior invited her to collaborate with them to champion female is an iconic image by Judy Chicago, who is one of the most important contemporary artists of the last 100 years.