Miriam Schapiro
Serious Dress
1973
Acrylic on paper
Sheet: 30 in. x 22 in.
Gift of Leonard & Ruth Bocour
Miriam Schapiro was a Toronto born, abstract expressionist artist who worked in many mediums, but is most known for the craft-like quality of her art. She lived from 1923 to 2015, and is known worldwide as a leader in feminist art, particularly of the Pattern and Decoration movement. Objects and motifs typically associated with women and “women’s work,” such as sewing, cooking, and quilting, were turned into elaborate collages, prints or paintings. Schapiro turned the crafting tradition (also typically associated with women’s art) and turned things that seemed mundane to most into beautiful, intricate works to be admired by the whole world.1
One of her works, Serious Dress, appears to be a combination of a print and a collage. It is a good example of her work in that it includes many of the symbols and characteristics widely used in her art. The “girly” colors, like red and pink, dominate the image, with curtain-like fabric folds flowing in the background. The floral, lace textile patterns evoke the feeling of staring at a close up of an elaborate dress; the colors giving it a very dreamlike quality. The yellows of the painting almost mimic rays of light, and were made by laying actual lace over the acrylic background, applying different layers of spray paint, and then removing the lace. It is similar to another work of hers, Voyage, that employs the same creation method.2 After the 1970’s, Schapiro mainly worked in collages, or as she liked to call them, “femmages.”3 She honored many women artists in her own work such as, Frida Kahlo, even going so far as to paint the artist’s portrait over her old work. Her work is featured in many museums and galleries, and she gained worldwide renown as both a feminist and a woman artist, making women’s work and imagery something not to be looked down upon, but to be admired.
1. Norma Broude and Mary D. Garrard, "Miriam Schapiro (1923-2015)," American Art Fall 2015, 132-135.↩
2. Mira Schor, “Miriam Schapiro’s Road to Feminism,” hyperallergic.com. Last modified March 15, 2016, http://hyperallergic.com/283426/miriam-schapiros-road-to-feminism/ ↩
3. William Grimes, “Miriam Schapiro, 91, a Feminist Artist Who Harnessed Craft and Pattern, Dies,” New York Times Last modified July 4, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/25/arts/design/miriam-schapiro-91-a-feminist-artist-who-harnessed-craft-and-pattern-dies.html↩
-Natalie Krissoff