VARIOUS ARTISTS / Groundswell: Women of Land Art

Various
Groundswell: women of land Art  2023
Hardcover, 256 pages
28 x 24cm
DelMonico Books/Nasher Sculpture Center

Using materials such as earth, wind, water, fire, wood, salt, rocks, mirrors and explosives, American artists of the 1960s began to move beyond the white cube gallery space to work directly in the land. Histories of Land art have long been dominated by men, but this title shifts that focus to the vast number of earthworks by women artists. This book includes five scholarly essays, as well as a detailed chronology, exhibition checklist and illustrated biographies of exhibition artists.With ties to Minimal and Conceptual art, these artists placed less emphasis on the discrete object and turned their attention to the experience of the artwork—however fleeting or permanent that might be—foregrounding natural materials and the site itself to create large-scale works located outside of typical urban art-world circuits. Groundswell is a resource for readers interested in understanding the historical Land art movement and our own relationship to the earth.

For many years, art historical narratives of Land art have been dominated by men: Robert Smithson, Michael Heizer, Walter de Maria, Robert Morris, Dennis Oppenheim, Richard Long, and others. Groundswell: Women of Land Art, intends to shift that focus to shed new light on the vast number of Land works by women artists, whose careers ran parallel to their better-known male counterparts, yet have received less recognition and representation in museum presentations.

Groundswell features 12 artists recognised for their sustained engagement with Land art: Lita Albuquerque (American, born 1946); Alice Aycock (American, born 1946); Beverly Buchanan (American, 1940–2015); Agnes Denes (American, born Hungary, 1931); Maren Hassinger (American, born 1947); Nancy Holt (American, 1938–2014); Patricia Johanson (American, born 1940); Ana Mendieta (American, born in Cuba, 1948–1985); Mary Miss (American, born 1944); Jody Pinto (American, born 1942); Michelle Stuart (American, born 1933); and Meg Webster (American, born 1944).

This extensive catalogue was produced in conjunction with the exhibition Groundswell: Women of Land Art, at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, Texas.