“My Town” (c. 1969-1974), silver gelatin print, 37 x 49 inches (all images courtesy the Estate of Anita Steckel, Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles, and Ortuzar Projects, New York)[/caption]
HYPOALLERGIC
Art Review
Oct 13, 2021
Anita Steckel
Hannah Hoffman Gallery
Los Angeles, California
By Natalie Haddad
Read the complete review HERE
LOS ANGELES — In 1973 Anita Steckel wrote, “If the erect penis is not ‘wholesome’ enough to go into museums — it should not be considered ‘wholesome’ enough to go into women. And if the erect penis is ‘wholesome’ enough to go into women, then it is more than ‘wholesome’ enough to go into the greatest art museums.”
The statement appeared in the press release for Fight Censorship, a group the artist formed that year to oppose institutional censorship of sexually themed art by women; members included Judith Bernstein, Louise Bourgeois, Joan Semmel, and Hannah Wilke.
“N.Y. Canvas Series #2” (c. 1971), screenprint and oil on canvas, 64 x 99 inches
With her Giant Women on New York photomontage series (1969–74), Steckel inserts her own image in New York City’s skyline. In “My Town,” a sultry Steckel lies nude across the city, its towers passing through her transparent body. “Pierced” is more blunt in its depiction of the phallic skyscraper’s abuse of the female body: the artist hangs limp above the Chrysler Building, impaled at the waist by its sharp crown.
Read the complete review HERE
