At the intersection of art, architecture and design, environments create and transform space into an immersive experience, inviting the audience to engage and interact. So far, art history has been focused on the works of male artists mostly from the US and Europe. Inside Other Spaces. Environments by Women Artists 1956–1976 aims to signpost a different narrative by highlighting women’s fundamental contributions to this field. Redefining the canon, the exhibition features 11 pioneering women artists from three generations, spanning Asia, Europe, and the Americas: Judy Chicago, Lygia Clark, Laura Grisi, Aleksandra Kasuba, Lea Lublin, Marta Minujín, Tania Mouraud, Maria Nordman, Nanda Vigo, Faith Wilding und Tsuruko Yamazaki. Given the experimental nature of such environments, many of these original works were dismantled or destroyed. The detailed reconstructions and replicas, which are carried out with the help of restorers and based on archival photographs, construction plans, and material lists, are in many cases presented here for the first time.
Conceived as a foundational research on the historiography of environments, the publication comprises a wealth of material shaping, mapping and illustrating the storyline(s) of the notion, and provides leading scholars’ essays and extensive bibliographies focused on individual artists and environments exhibited in the show.