The dinner party

When Judy Chicago's multimedia exhibit The Dinner Party opened in the late 1970s, it was almost as shocking to the art world and to society at large as the first exhibit of Impressionists nearly a century before. And like that art, it stretched the limits of artistic vision and expression, soon becoming a landmark in art history. A symbolically rich and complex visual chronicle of the achievements of more than 1,000 women in Western civilization, The Dinner Party has been seen by nearly a million viewers worldwide. Judy Chicago's earlier books about the exhibit are now collector's items. In this new work, the artist takes you on a personal tour of The Dinner Party, discussing it genesis, aesthetic and historical meaning, now and for the future. Many new illustrations highlight this account, which celebrates the work's reemergence in an exhibition at the UCLA/Armand Hammer Museum and Cultural Center in Los Angeles.