Counterpractice : Psychoanalysis, Politics and the Art of French Feminism

This groundbreaking book highlights, for the first time, a generation of women making art to define a culture of experimental thought and practice against the backdrop of the French women’s movement, or Mouvement de libération des femmes (MLF) (1970–1981). Women’s art is viewed in relation to some of the most exciting thinkers emerging from radical trends in philosophy and literature in France in the 1970s – Hélène Cixous, Luce Irigaray and Julia Kristeva – who are widely seen to represent the international brand of ‘French feminism’. The women artists in this book force a timely reconsideration of the full spectrum of revolutionary practices by women in the years that followed the events of May ’68. Counterpractice' highlights a generation of women who used art to define a culture of experimental thought and practice during the period of the French women's movement or Mouvement de Liberation des Femmes (1970-81). It considers women's art in relation to some of the most exciting thinkers to have emerged from the French literature and philosophy of the 1970s - Helene Cixous, Luce Irigaray and Julia Kristeva - forcing a timely reconsideration of the full spectrum of revolutionary practices by women in the years following the events of May '68. Lavishly illustrated with over 200 images, the book also features an illuminating foreword by art historian Griselda Pollock Counterpractice highlights a generation of women who used art to define a culture of experimental thought and practice during the period of the French women's movement or Mouvement de Libération des Femmes (1970–81). It considers women's art in relation to some of the most exciting thinkers to have emerged from the French literature and philosophy of the 1970s – Hélène Cixous, Luce Irigaray and Julia Kristeva – forcing a timely reconsideration of the full spectrum of revolutionary practices by women in the years following the events of May'68. Lavishly illustrated with over 200 images, the book also features an illuminating foreword by art historian Griselda Pollock. Front matter Contents Illustrations Acknowledgments Foreword Preface: the glissade Introduction On the streets: from May ’68 to the MLF The MLF 1970s Libération-création: MLF, women artists and the militant body Instase: Psychanalyse et Politique and the spaces of women’s art Women’s groups and collective art practices Hard politics, soft art: subversive practices from écriture féminine to soft art Conclusion: La révolution accomplie? Some legacies of women’s art in 1970s France Index This groundbreaking book highlights a generation of women who made art as a way of defining a culture of experimental thought and practice, against the backdrop of the French women’s movement or Mouvement de Libération des Femmes (1970–81)