Judy Chicago
On Fire, 1969/2012
Set of two films and 12 Archival pigment prints on paper
Atmospheres, Running time 14:21
Los Angeles Pyrotechnic Performance, Running time 12:04
12 prints, each:
20 x 24 inches
(50.8 x 61 cm)
Edition 6 of 10, 3 APs
3 remaining in the edition
︎ Inquire about this work
On Fire, 1969/2012
Set of two films and 12 Archival pigment prints on paper
Atmospheres, Running time 14:21
Los Angeles Pyrotechnic Performance, Running time 12:04
12 prints, each:
20 x 24 inches
(50.8 x 61 cm)
Edition 6 of 10, 3 APs
3 remaining in the edition
︎ Inquire about this work
Chicago began using pyrotechnics in
the late 1960s in order to feminize the atmosphere and the land, which, in
Southern California, were dominated by boys and the hard, slick lines of their
cars. From overpasses to parking lots and the deserts outside Los Angeles,
Chicago brought colorful smoke, often emitting from empowered nude female
bodies, to the harsh and masculinist landscape. Chicago continues to use
multichromatic flares and fireworks for increasingly large-scale commissions,
such as A Butterfly for Brooklyn (2015) in Prospect Park and A Purple
Poem for Miami (2019). As Chicago writes in Through the Flower: My
Struggle as a Woman Artist, her journey to learn about pyrotechnics were
met with sexist violence and harassment, but the use of fireworks was
nevertheless fulfilling artistically and personally, becoming a “release” for
Chicago as she allowed the personal to manifest in her work.
Collections: Smithsonian Museum of Art, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University, FRAC Lorraine
Collections: Smithsonian Museum of Art, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University, FRAC Lorraine
Immolation, 1972 Image Size: 16 x 16 in
Butterfly for Oakland, Lake Merritt, 1974 Image Size: 13 3/8 x 20 in
Pink Atmosphere, Cal State Fullerton, 1971 Image Size: 13 1/4 x 19 7/8 in
Multi Colored Atmosphere, Norton Simon Museum, 1970 Image Size: 13 1/4 x 20 in
Smoke Bodies, 1972 Image Size: 16 x 16 in
Butterfly for Pomona, Pomona College, 2012 Image Size: 13 3/8 x 20 in
Purple Atmosphere, Santa Barbara, CA, 1969 Image Size: 13 1/4 x 20 in
Goddess with Flares, 1972 Image Size: 13 1/4 x 20 in
Smoke Holes #2, 1970 Image Size: 16 x 16 in
Sublime Environment, Barker Hangar, Santa Monica, CA, 2012 Image Size: 13 1/4 x 20 in
Bridge Atmosphere, Fullerton, CA, 1971 Image Size: 13 3/8 x 20 in
The Deflowering of Nye + Brown, Culver City, CA, 2012 Image Size: 13 1/4 x 20 in
Excerpt from Atmospheres
Excerpt from Los Angeles Pyrotechnic Performance
