The Reckoning: Women Artists of the New Millennium

The authors of After the Revolution return with an incisive study of the work of contemporary women artists. In After the Revolution, the authors concluded that “The battles may not all have been won…but barricades are gradually coming down, and work proceeds on all fronts in glorious profusion.” Now, with The Reckoning, authors Heartney, Posner, Princenthal, and Scott bring into focus the accomplishments of 24 acclaimed international women artists born since 1960 who have benefited from the groundbreaking efforts of their predecessors. The book is organized in four thematic sections: “Bad Girls” profiles artists whose work represents an assault on conventional notions of gender and racial difference. “History Lessons” offers reflections on the self in the context of history and globalization. “Spellbound” focuses on women’s embrace of the irrational, subjective, and surreal, while Domestic Disturbances” takes on women’s conflicted relationship to home, family, and security. Written in lively prose and fully illustrated throughout, this book gives an informed account of the wonderful diversity of recent contemporary art by women.