New Time: Art and Feminisms in the 21st Century is a major survey exploring recent feminist practices in contemporary art. In 1980 Lucy Lippard argued that feminist art is “neither a style nor a movement” but rather “a value system, a revolutionary strategy, a way of life.” Taking Lippard’s statement as a point of departure, the exhibition examines the values, strategies, and ways of life reflected in current feminist art. In keeping with Griselda Pollock’s observation that “feminism is a historical project and thus is itself constantly shaped and remodelled in relation to the living process of women’s struggles,” New Time aims to demonstrate that feminism in the twenty-first century is multifaceted, encompassing many complex issues and perspectives, and therefore cannot be reduced to a single subject, style, or agenda. Although artworks made since 2000 are the primary focus, the objects and installations on view span several generations, mediums, geographies, and political sensibilities. In this way the project seeks to convey the heterogeneous, intergenerational, and gender-fluid nature of feminist practices today.
Inspired by Bay Area poet Leslie Scalapino’s feminist poem of the same name, New Time presents a kaleidoscopic view of feminist artistic practices, thought, and experiences. Featuring more than 150 works by seventy-seven artists and collectives, the exhibition is organized around eight themes: hysteria; the gaze; revisiting historical subjects through a feminist lens; the fragmented female body; gender fluidity; labor, domesticity, and activism; female anger; and feminist utopias. Beyond the galleries, the exhibition unfolds in multiple spaces throughout the museum, including the Art Wall, Theater 2, and the large outdoor screen.