Feminist Art: A Deep Dive into Creativity and Advocacy

One can envy those who have had the chance to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of artist James Turrell's works. Great master of light and space James Turrell combined the planes of art, astronomy, architecture, and design.

We want to tell you about the applied value of his contribution to contemporary art. The perception of reality is often different from reality. The metaphysics of a person's inner world has its laws. Playing with these facets can lead a person to valuable experiences and discoveries.

Artist James Turrell said: «My work is using light as a material to influence or affect the medium of perception. I feel that I want to use light as this wonderful and magic elixir that we drink as Vitamin D through the skin – and I mean, we are literally light-eaters – to then affect the way that we see..»
feminist art
Daryna Markova
contributor DOM Art Residence
Mar 31, 2025

What is Feminist Art?

The feminist art movement shook the world in the late 1960s when women artists finally said "Enough!" challenging stereotypes and critiques of the male-dominated systems in culture and art history.

Judy Chicago, Miriam Schapiro, Martha Rosler, and thousands more artists created work that transformed personal stories into political accusations by showing audiences unpleasant truths about gender dynamics, power structures, and visualization representation.
Judy displayed her "The Dinner Party" as a large triangular table that honored 39 valuable women from history with plates shaped like female genitalia.

At that time, artists sought to escape masculine-dominated conventional art rules. Various forms of artistic expression, such as painting, sculpture, photography, textile arts, performance, and video art, allowed them to be heard.

Moments in Feminist Art History

Feminist art has deep historical roots that have evolved and shifted over the decades. From its earliest expressions in the mid-20th century to the more contemporary works we see today, it has been an integral part of broader social movements for gender equality.

Early Days of Feminist Art

Feminism appeared as a concept in 1832 through the writings of French philosopher Charles Fourier. It gained popularity during the first sexist movement in the mid-19th century.

Due to cultural norms, artists lost their position to male artists who claimed credit for their works. Numerous female artists obtained recognition, although they operated under the restrictions imposed upon them.

Art education started accepting women in the 19th century, but nature remained strictly forbidden. Women artists had to use male signatures on their artwork during that period.

Artist Rosa Bonheur (1822–1899) was the first in the feminist art movement to receive widespread recognition and the first female to win the authority to wear male attire in restricted locations to women.

Feminist Art in the First Half of the 20th Century

Women participated vigorously in feminist movements at the beginning of the twentieth century, while their achievements received less recognition than male participants. Women discovered art to express their experiences, pain, and identity.

The influential female artist Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) used her artistic work to show private suffering, the female physique, and Mexican heritage. Another female artist, Leonora Carrington, used surrealist techniques to manifest her surreal representations of feminine power and magic.

Firstly, people identified Frida Kahlo as the wife of artist Diego Rivera. Recognition as a leading female artist came to the public only after she passed away.

Feminist Art in the 1960-1980s

The era saw feminist art develop into a full feminist movement for cultural gender equality. Women started publicly criticizing museums, art academies, and galleries because of their discriminatory practices.

In 1971, American art historian Linda Nochlin wrote her article "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?" challenging traditional art history. In 1972, Judy Chicago and her colleagues created the Womanhouse initiative — the first art space focused on the female experience.
One of the first multimedia installations was The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago, which honored historical women through a series of intricately designed plates, each dedicated to a notable female figure from history.

Barbara Kruger became one of the well-known artists of this era, mixing images and words to criticize consumer culture and traditional gender expectations. During the 1980s, the Guerrilla Girls organization started their work as anonymous artists, challenging art institutions for sexism.

7 Contemporary Feminist Artists

Some female creators were obtained to operate secretly, and others publicly advocated for their presence in the feminist art movement. But everything they produced reshaped cultural perceptions of women.

The artists in feminism expressed themselves through painting, performance, and photography and staged protests to disclose what was hidden. People admired their work for its shocking nature and because it made them rethink conventional thinking.

Let's look at these seven artists who made feminist art history by rewriting the entire cultural tradition.

Barbara Kruger

During the 1980s, she stood out as a strong American figure in the feminist art movement. Through billboard-like language artwork, she denounced sexism and products driven by profit and exposed the impact media holds and its role in creating gender norms.

Kruger printed text blocks over black-and-white photos in bright white and red. She picked font styles that matched contemporary newspaper headliners to add vividness to her artworks. Instead of commercial promotion, her pieces used advertising techniques to encourage serious reflection.

"Your Body is a Battleground" is from Kruger's collection of works created in 1989. It shows a female face, with one half presented in positive print and the other half in negative print. She made this artwork to back the United States women's rights march, which now serves as a sign of people's fight for reproductive freedom.

Through her piece "I Shop Therefore I Am" (1987), Kruger targeted consumerism's faults. Queer uses this wording to mock Descartes' key idea "I think therefore I am" She explains to people about feminism and now gains their reputation based on what they purchase.

Kruger publicly opposed the marketplace system that transforms art into financial objects. Kruger created contemporary graphic design and advertising models through her artistic efforts that assisted activists worldwide.

Delphine Lebourgeois

An artist from France practices illustration and graphic design. Using visual symbols, she studies different aspects of women's living together, being independent, and dealing with society's demands.

Lebourgeois shows her fame through her "The Girls" (2015) series, which explains how groups of women try to help each other through challenges using various forms of power. This is what feminism is. Their groupings remind us of military troops or religious groups, with female teamwork. Delphine Lebourgeois provided illustration services at The Times and The Guardian before turning to art as her primary focus.

A famous depiction of the female form is presented in "L'Origine du monde" (2016), although the artist turned this illustration into abstract art. Lebourgeois employs erotic motifs across her productions so that viewers will reconsider the borders defining female sexuality and stereotypes. According to Lebourgeois, women in feminism gain freedom of self-expression through their bodily forms.

The artist examines how womanhood becomes fragmented through her "Fragments" (2018) paintings. She depicts women's separated or fragmented bodies, who face societal constraints on their expressions and roles in the world.

The "Hors-limite" (2019) explores the boundaries of identity by abstractly portraying organic shapes. Through the artwork, Lebourgeois raises psychological boundaries while examining women's self-awareness, which is at the edge of social and cultural constraints.

Guerrilla Girls

In 1985, a group of unidentified female activists arranged to fight sexism and racism across the artistic community. They gained fame by using unusual methods such as masks, posters, and street art to make others notice how unequal treatment happened at art organizations.

The Guerrilla Girls showed how art institutions prevented minority and female artists from getting equal opportunities. How minor the gallery space was for female and minority artists in big shows across national museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

"Do women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum?" (1989) is one of the Guerrilla Girls' most famous posters. "The Advantages of Being a Woman Artist" is a series of provocative essays that reads like a satirical "how-to" for female artists. It details women's treatment in the art industry, specifically to "less discerning collectors" who purchase women's artwork, which has positive effects.

In London in 2015, the Guerrilla Girls conducted a demonstration outside Tate Modern that exposed how men still dominated the exhibition with their artwork.

Frida Kahlo

One of the most iconic and influential artists of the 20th century. Her art pieces continue to inspire generations worldwide through the deep symbolism that emerged from her anguish. Frida stood as a cultural representation of Mexico, dismantling social prejudices about female expression and artistic practices alongside physical beauty.

Frida started painting after an accident confined her to bed for several months. The self-portraits became her initial works. The painting served as Frida's way of expressing thoughts regarding her emotional state and the identity challenges she suffers.

"Self-portrait with a Crown of Thorns and a Hummingbird" (1940) showcases her bond to pain, love, and Mexican identity. A crown of thorns symbolizes suffering, and a hummingbird — love and transformation.

In 1929, Frida married the celebrated Mexican artist. Unfortunately, their marriage was emotionally challenging. The painting "Frida and Diego" (1931) is one of the famous artworks regarding their union. It portrays the artist with her spouse, and her facial expression embodies their intricate connection.

In "The Two Fridas" (1939), Kahlo shows two figures wearing opposite Mexican and European outfits. The artwork depicts her dual nature, especially because it merges her cultural heritage with her personal and emotional difficulties. It studies how women face conflicts between their cultural traditions and their identity.

People adore Frida Kahlo for her bold colors and open mind about transforming her appearance. The artist frequently modified her hairstyle while dressing in conventional Mexican attire and selected vibrant shades for all elements surrounding her.

Through her work in feminism, Kahlo established women's portrayal as a standard art practice by defying traditional female conventions in challenging circumstances.

Georgia O’Keeffe

As a twentieth-century American artist who gained global fame for her distinctive painting style, her pieces conveyed modernism and the distinctive bond between women and the natural world.

People called O'Keeffe the "Mother of American Modernism" and knew her for her significant and complex artwork of flowers, animal skulls, landscapes, and other natural elements. She turned typical organic subjects into powerful abstract representations that held emotional depth.

This was especially evident in her series of works such as "Jimson Weed" (1936) and "Black Iris" (1926). Through feminist art, she depicted natural elements in a personal style to liberate female sexuality from traditional strictures of morality.

With "Sky Above Clouds (1965)" O'Keeffe started depicting natural elements and the skies. It prompted her to study abstract artistic forms in a new way. O'Keeffe uses this piece as a metaphor to depict the growth in character, the spiritual and creative growth of a woman, linked to expressions of independence and self-identity.

Some commonly interpret her painting as a representation of feminine sexuality. The "Red Maxi" cycle of paintings and additional flower works from O'Keeffe feature flowers representing female sexual organs and their color—emotional states. However, O'Keeffe never publicly confirmed such meanings in her drawings.

Georgia experienced a pivotal life event when she moved to New Mexico in 1929, which introduced fresh creative inspiration to her.
In "Blue and Green Music" (1921), painters use colorful abstractions, expressing musical rhythms and emotions. Her depictions are usually filled with emotions that find expression in form and color.

O'Keeffe depicts musical rhythms and emotions through colorful abstractions in "Blue and Green Music" (1921). Her artistic works continually display emotions through both color and form combinations.

Mikela Henry-Lowe

As an American artist, she focuses on identity and cultural heritage aspects alongside female emancipation and blending traditional with modern elements. Her cheerful, vibrant artworks illustrate how African and African-American traditions flourish and depict the function of women throughout those cultures.

​​​​Henry-Lowe exhibited female power and vulnerability through her body in her notable work "Belly of the Beast" (2016). She examines themes of sexuality while exploring corporeality and alienation by engaging with fabric, clay materials, and other textures that symbolize feminine aspects.

In the artwork "Nappy Headed" (2014), she examines African-American identity through representations of different hair textures that face stereotypes and cultural exploitation. Through imagery linked to racial oppression, Henry-Lowe develops visual signals about inner female strength and the search for self-acceptance and ethnic heritage.

Mikaela is renowned for her "Her Strength" (2019) collection that illustrates women in powerful poses. Mikaela employs vivid colors and abstract forms to express emotions resulting from labor and feminine desires.

Her work has appeared in international exhibitions, while maintenance of her works remains in prominent collections of galleries and museums. Through her exhibitions, she connects artwork between paintings, sculptures, and installations, allowing people to reach deeper cultural and female identity insights.

Louise Bourgeois

The French-American artist gained international recognition through sculptures, installations, prints, and drawings. Bourgeois examines memory trauma and femininity alongside motherhood, psychoanalysis and sex in her artwork.

The art world acknowledges her as a primary figure in contemporary art, recognizing her as a revolutionary sculptor. Throughout her career, Louise Bourgeois employed materials including bronze, marble, latex, and textile. Her creative works merged powerful and vulnerable effects. Bourgeois created her most iconic piece, featuring a spider as the central component.

Her "Maman" installation series (1999) shows protective and threatening qualities. According to the artist, her creation links to her mother, a weaver.

Deformed human bodies and abstract organic shape sculptures are common in her art. Through art creation, she found a method to communicate her hidden emotions and the experiences of trauma.

"Destruction of the Father" from 1974 serves as her notable creation because it presents an installation that mimics the appearance of subconscious fantasies depicting the symbolic breakup of authoritarian fathers.

The artist Bourgeois maintained a productive career up to her passing in 2010. Mainstream artists use Louise Bourgeois' work as their primary inspiration because she explored themes of body-focused art, emotional trauma, and subconscious experience.

Her works are currently displayed at international museums of the highest caliber, such as MoMA in New York, Tate Modern in London, and multiple other museums worldwide.

Teresa Burga

The Peruvian artist represents contemporary conceptual artwork with prominence throughout Latin America. She has explored different approaches through her art, including painting alongside installations and cybernetic systems. Her artistic practice explores personal identity and women's societal position and power systems.

In Chicago, she was introduced to the latest concepts of art — pop art, minimalism, and cybernetics, which significantly influenced her later work.
As an artist, Teresa Burga operated between artistic disciplines, scientific approaches, and technological explorations. Before anyone else in Latin America's art scene, she refused to continue with traditional painting techniques and embraced unusual forms of creative expression.

The Arte Nuevo art group welcomed Burga in the 1960s to push beyond traditional artistic limits through pop art abstraction and new media applications. Mass culture symbolism and consumerism research with bright colors formed the main focus of her artistic production during that time.

During the 1970s, Teresa commenced her work by mixing art and scientific elements. Using technology, she developed interactive installations to study the interaction between individuals and human social constructs.

Burga dedicated herself to the project "Perfil de la Mujer Peruana" (Profile of the Peruvian Woman, 1980), where she studied Peruvian women by reviewing their socioeconomic standing and educational and financial insights. Through this innovative work, she used statistics to expose social inequalities as an artistic medium.

From the end of the 1980s until her passing, Burga stopped creating art and spent many years in obscurity throughout Peru. In the 2000s, art historians and curators rediscovered her contributions to the contemporary art scene.

The contemporary art world displays her creations throughout major museums, including the Museo Reina Sofía (Madrid), the Tate Modern (London), and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA, New York).

Feminist Art Today:
New Challenges and Opportunities

Modern feminist art continues to advance. Modern-day female artists experience better recognition than their historical counterparts, but various gender-based issues continue to affect today's artists. Thanks to social media platforms and digital channels, artist has more chances to communicate with the audience, express themselves, share their work, and conduct activist initiatives.

Kara Walker, a prominent feminist artist, develops her exploration of race and gender in her ongoing work through installation and painting.
The artist Marina Abramović continues experimental work in performance art, exploring corporeality and psychological boundaries. Even today, the younger generation of artists view Abramović for her courage to manipulate her body to self-express and explore social issues.

Photographic works and video art serve Shirin Neshat to explore female identity in Islamic cultures. Tracey Emin maintains its focus on unique artwork as she narrates female experiences using personal narratives.

Current female artists can make choices without constraints but still face ongoing difficulties. They use their art to highlight women's struggles for violence, self-ownership, and equal rights in artistic and general societal spaces.