(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Women's Work: The art of Lela Autio (museum exhibition) [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-04-23
In 1973 three pioneering women artists—Lela Autio, Dana Boussard, and Nancy Erickson--proposed an exhibition of their soft sculpture at the University of Montana in Missoula. Their proposal was denied because their soft sculptures were considered “women’s work.” Undeterred, they held their exhibition in the empty Carnegie Library building in Missoula in 1974. A year later the Missoula Art Museum (MAM) was founded. MAM was founded in diversity, and features community-centered, of the moment, and adventurous, audacious, challenging works that are fun to look at.
MAM’s special exhibition, Women’s Work, celebrates MAM’s 50th anniversary with the works of these three women. According to MAM:
“While this is not a faithful recreation of that radical 1974 exhibition, the soft sculptures included provide us with a sense of how groundbreaking and exciting that exhibition was.”
Shown below are two of the works of Lela Autio (1927-2016) which were included in this special exhibition. Autio was an innovative modernist artist who created abstract soft sculpture works before this medium was recognized by museums. She was frustrated that the work of women artists often went unacknowledged.
Zizi and boots, cape, dress
This was created in 1985 with vinyl and thread.
Circle with Tubes
This was created in 1975 with fabric, plastic, and latex/canvass.
Note: these photographs were taken on April 10, 2025
More art museum exhibitions
Portland Art Museum: Frida Kahlo, mestiza artist (museum tour)
Museum of Glass: Black artist Mildred Howard (museum exhibition)
Museum of Glass: Jamaican artist Ebony G. Patterson (museum exhibition)
Museum of Glass: Some Black women artists (photo diary)
Museum of Arts and Culture: Two works by Patti Warashina (museum exhibit)
Museum of Arts and Culture: Wood sculpture by Humaira Abid (museum exhibition)
Missoula Art Museum: The art of Cid Wolstein (museum exhibition)
Missoula Art Museum: Mimi Jung's Just Between Us (museum exhibition)
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/4/23/2317624/-Women-s-Work-The-art-of-Lela-Autio-museum-exhibition?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
