Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960–1985

The Brooklyn Museum presents Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960–1985, the first comprehensive exhibition to explore the pioneering artistic practices of Latin American and Latina women artists during a tumultuous and transformational period in the history of the Americas and the development of contemporary art.

Radical Women includes more than 260 works—including photography, video, and other experimental mediums, as well as paintings, sculpture, and prints—by more than 120 artists working in 15 countries. The Brooklyn Museum is the only East Coast venue of this critically acclaimed exhibition organized by the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles.

Addressing an art-historical vacuum, one that has largely excluded Latin American and US-based Latina women artists from the record, Radical Women highlights work created during a period of profound political and social turmoil in many Latin American countries in the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s, a period that saw the emergence of multiple dictatorships as well as significant and often subversive interventions by the government of the United States. The artworks in Radical Women can be viewed as heroic acts giving voice to generations of women across Latin America and the United States. Proposing both aesthetic and political radicality, the work in the exhibition foregrounds feminist concerns such as bodily autonomy, oppressive social norms, gendered violence, and the environment.

Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960–1985 is organized by the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, as part of Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, an initiative of the Getty with arts institutions across Southern California.

Leadership support for the Brooklyn Museum presentation is provided by the Ford Foundation. Major support is provided by the Starry Night Fund, the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Brooklyn Friends of Radical Women, and Bank of America.

Public programming

Opening celebration: Radical Women in Dialogue
Saturday, April 14, 11:30am–6pm
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium and Beaux-Arts Court, 3rd Floor

Celebrate Radical Women’s opening weekend at a daylong program that includes a curator-led tour by Cecilia Fajardo-Hill and Andrea Giunta and a series of conversations with artists Yolanda Andrade, Catalina Parra, and others.

Brooklyn talks: Iris Morales, Rosa Clemente, and Victoria Barrett
Thursday, April 26, 7pm
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium, 3rd Floor

Explore intergenerational Latinx activism in a conversation among former Young Lords Party member Iris Morales, educator and activist Rosa Clemente, and environmental activist Victoria Barrett. Moderated by Adjoa Jones de Almeida, Director of Education, Brooklyn Museum.

Mujeres Rebeldes: Radical Women on Film
April–July, various times
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium, 3rd Floor, and Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Forum, 4th Floor

This film series highlights intimate portraits of powerful women from Latin America and the United States. Visit  www.brooklynmuseum.org/calendar for updates on programming.

Artist’s Eye
Saturdays, May 12, June 9, July 14, July 21, 2pm
Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing and Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, 4th Floor

In-gallery talks by contemporary artists offer fresh and alternative perspectives on artwork on view. Featuring artists Esperanza Mayobre (May 12), Paul Ramírez Jonas (June 9), and artists in Radical Women (July 14 and July 21).

Performance series
Throughout July, 7–10pm
Museum–wide

Experience a series of sociopolitically charged performances by contemporary New York-based Latinx artists that illuminate current issues while reflecting on their connection to the exhibition’s theme of the politicized body. Presented with NYU’s Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics.

Press contact:
Press Office, T 718 501 6354 / press [​at​] brooklynmuseum.org