Language: English

Number of pages: 136

The Women Who Changed Art Forever brings readers directly into artists’ lives: we see their stories as a sequence of images and feel like we were in their heads as if we were part of their thoughts.

Empathy is one of the reading keys of this graphic novel and of feminism itself: being able to see the artist’s faces and memories adds an emotional value that lets the reader better understand their point of view. And this narrative method is also important because it makes the artists define themselves and not be described by an external gaze.

However, this book is not only these artists’ stories, but a collective account of a slowly changing society. These women’s lives intertwine with, inspire, or are inspired by those of other artists’ and intellectuals’, like Yoko Ono, Marina Abramovic, Cindy Sherman, Eleanor Antin, and many more who chose art as their means of struggle. This shows us that feminism is made by thousands of voices that fought, and are still fighting, to be heard.

It’s important to notice how Chicago, Ringgold, Mendieta, and Guerrilla Girls’ stories are connected: they all take place in New York during 1985, which is the year and place where Mendieta died and Guerrilla Girls started to act.