Anonymous was a Woman VII 1977

Miriam Schapiro made this print, Anonymous was a Woman VII, which seems to depict a doily, with ink on paper. The image is a solid, deep red and the ground is an off-white, so the contrast feels intimate and warm. The materiality of the work seems deceptive. This print is a flat surface, but the image suggests the handmade, something tactile and domestic. Look at how the floral elements are slightly uneven; they don't sit on the paper in a way we might expect. The little chair in the center, for example, is askew, slightly clumsy, not mechanically reproduced. Schapiro has made something that looks mass-produced appear personal, almost on the verge of falling apart. Schapiro's work reminds me of Ree Morton's, another feminist artist interested in elevating the everyday. Both artists embraced the provisional, using humble materials to explore ideas about identity, gender, and the ongoing conversation between art and life.