Judith Bernstein

Chandler Walker - Drawing 1

SellinWWg your idea
Who is she?
Judith Bernstein is a female artist
and activist that comments on
political and feminist issues. She is
known for her bold use of phallic
imagery and explicit words. She
works in oil, sculpture, and graphite
on a large canvases.

She is known as one of the most

provocative artists of her time. She
has been in shows since the 60s.
Making a historic stance for female
artists and educators.
“My work is not just about
feminism, it’s about my
observations.
Now I’m exploring the
psyche of women. The rage
that women
have as well as my own
rage.”
SellingBeginning
The your i d
Bernstein was born October 14, 1942 into a
Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey. Her home
was conservative, and not overtly artistic. She
knew she wanted to be an artist from a very young
age. She had an enormous amount of personality
and energy. She knew the only way to become an
artist and use her energy was to leave home.
Selling y and the start of a revolution
School our i d
After attending Pennsylvania State University, Bernstein entered a
Master of Fine Arts programme at the Yale School of Art, where she
was in a minority of women studying the arts. She began exploring
more into her fascination with feminism and political injustices.

Her inspiration for some of her first pieces such as Fun Gun, 1967 came
from the graffiti filled men’s bathrooms at Yale. It showed a certain
aspect of the male psyche that Bernstein saw to be useful to her
artwork.She adopted the use of explicit language and imagery in her
artwork.

Bernstein was an member of many art and activist organisations

including Guerilla Girls, Fight Censorship and Art Workers’ Coalition,
as well as being a founding member of A.I.R. Gallery (the first gallery
devoted to showing only female artists), where she had her first solo
exhibition in 1973.
A.I.R Artists in Residence gallery
Bernstein was one the first twenty women to be
apart of A.I.R after being denied in shows and
exhibits due to her explicit art. Many critics and
gallery owners didn’t understand what she was
trying to create, and shoved her off as nonsense.
Even going as far as petioning for her art to not be
shown. She had her first solo exhibit at A.I.R in
1973.

“It was a co-op, not a regular commercial gallery.

Lucy Lippard, who is a famous art critic had a file
of a lot of women artists working at the time.
Twenty women were picked from the group. I was
taken on right away because I was doing work
they hadn’t seen before.”
“Don’t hold back! If you
want to do something,
do it. You assume that
you’ll get rewarded for it
but that’s not always the
case. But if you want do
it, don’t hold back. You
have to take that risk.”
“A THROUGH V”
(1981). Charcoal on paper, 120
× 120 ̋
‘Screw’
Venue: Studio
Voltaire, London

Exhibition Title:
Rising

Pieces: Birth of a
Universe #33 and
‘Screw’ series

Date: July 5 –
August 24, 2014
“Signature
Piece”
1986
“Horizontal” 1973
“Vietnam Salute,”
1967
“Dicks of Death,”
2015
“Although she makes a strong case for belligerence as part and
parcel of the human animal, I don’t see Bernstein’s art as fatalistic
— that we are by nature doomed to repeat historical cycles of
violence. If, for the sake of argument, the new paintings single out
individual politicians (L.B.J. was a prime target of Bernstein’s scorn
in the ‘60s) as the villains of this play, it’s conceivable to extrapolate
that we fall to bloodshed not due to our DNA but because we are
trapped in the stratagems of the powerful and the power-hungry.”-
Thomas Micchelli, HYPERALLERGIC
“Money Shot –
Green” (2016),
“Donald Trump is a fool, a monster, a sexist, a racist, and a con
man,” she says. She decided to title the show “Money Shot”
because, she notes, “Trump is using the government like his
own personal cash machine.” - Julia Hapernin, Art World
In Evil we Trust, 2017
 What are critics saying?
“Bernstein’s paintings do
the same demystifying
work, but go several steps
“This artist is 72 and further, presenting the
doing her best work yet, vagina not as a passive
and she has lots of conduit, but as an active
painterly talent to agent of procreative fury.”
explore.” Sharon Mizota, art criticLA Times

Roberta Smith, art critic NYT

My Overall Thoughts
★ I think her art is important, because it’s
intense. It makes you feel real human
emotion; rage, fear, curiosity. It’s not just
looking at a painting and thinking its
beautiful and moving on.

It makes you think, and brings

you back to think again.

★ I like her use of words in her art

★ I respect her as the ever-evolving artist
she is
★ I respect her for not waiting around for
society to understand her art. She
kept painting, kept talking, and kept
creating a space for female artists.
 “Of course,
my work is FEMINIST!!!
My work is an extension of
self. Critique the men;
critique their work. Being
OUTRAGEOUS/OUTSCALE.
New York style. I want what
the men want.”
Bibilography
● https://www.artsy.net/artist/judith-bernstein
● http://www.artnews.com/2019/04/22/habitat-artists-and-jewelry/
● https://brooklynrail.org/2015/04/art/judith-bernstein-with-corina-larkin
● http://www.contemporaryartdaily.com/2014/08/judith-bernstein-at-studio-voltaire/
● https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/31/arts/design/review-judith-bernstein-weaves-feminist-messages.htm
● http://www.wearebird.co/judith-bernsteinl
● https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-xpm-2013-sep-24-la-et-cm-review-judith-bernstein-at-the-box-20130916-
story.html