Lucy Lippard 1979: An Interview

Lucy Lippard (b. 1937) earned degrees from Smith College and New York University before beginning her career as an art critic in 1962, when she began contributing to publications such as Art International and, later, Artforum. In 1966, she organized an exhibition entitled “Eccentric Abstraction” at the Fischbach Gallery in New York City. “Eccentric Abstraction” set the standard for what would later be regarded as postminimalism, process, or antiform art. In1969 Lippard, a dedicated activist, helped found the Art Workers’ Coalition, a group seeking vast changes to the art world, including a restructuring of the policies of the Museum of Modern Art in favour of artists’ having a voice in the exhibition of their work and a general improvement in artists’ living conditions. Lippard was also a founding member of the feminist journal Heresies (1977). She has written numerous influential books of art history and criticism, including Pop Art (1966), Changing: Essays in Art Criticism (1971), and Six Years, the Dematerialization of the Art Object from 1966 to 1972 (1973).

In this interview with Kate Horsfield, Lippard, discusses her work with the journal Heresies: A Feminist Publication on Art and Politics and her novel, I See/You Mean (1979).  When asked about her thoughts on the state of women in the art world she reveals "I still worry, but not as much.

A historical interview originally recorded in 1979 and re-edited in 2003 with support from the Lyn Blumenthal Memorial Fund.