Matrix: Prints by Women Artists, 1960–1990

Printmaking has served as a stepping stone for many women artists, enabling their work to reach the masses thanks to its accessible form. Matrix: Prints by Women Artists, 1960–1990 explores a period of experimentation in printmaking among women artists, who used the art form as a means of creative expression and also a way to enter the male-dominated art market. Historically, women artists had encountered institutional barriers to success in the fine arts, including a lack of access to formal training, exhibitions, and sales. The 1960s ushered in an era of massive social change, including the feminist movement, which sought equal rights and opportunities and greater personal freedom for women. It became a period of great artistic experimentation and collaboration.

In printmaking, a matrix is the plate, block, or screen that holds the ink. More generally, it is defined as something within or from which something else originates, develops, or takes form. Artists such as Minna Citron, Chryssa, Helen Frankenthaler, the Guerrilla Girls, Louise Nevelson, Faith Ringgold, and Julia Santos Solomon experimented with the medium during these three decades and became a formidable matrix from which a new generation of printmakers would develop. Individually and collectively, these artists expanded the genre through their mastery of technique and collaboration, while defining and broadening a new, more inclusive voice and visual language. They are now role models to embolden a new generation.

Featured Artists

Emma Amos • Camille Billops • Chryssa • Minna Citron • Helen Frankenthaler • Nellie Gold • Guerrilla Girls • Grace Hartigan • Yvonne Jacquette • Barbara Kohl-Spiro • Ellen Lanyon • Margot Lovejoy • Luanda Lozano • Louise Nevelson • Faith Ringgold • Miriam Schapiro • Julia Santos Solomon • May Stevens • Nitza Tufiño

Image: Chryssa (American, b. Greece, 1933–2013). Untitled from Gates to Times Square, 1978. Screenprint (edition 50/100). Gift of Mr. John Rosenthal, 1981 (1981.10.5t). © Estate of Chryssa.

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