The Medea Insurrection: Radical Women Artists behind the Iron Curtain

Experimental, provocative and largely ignored by art historians, the radical female artists of the German Democratic Republic

This important volume gathers 36 female artists from behind the Iron Curtain between the years 1961 and 1989, attempting a contextualization of nonconformist, female art production in the Eastern Bloc. Exploring how these artists produced work within the terms of mythology, protest and self-definition, The Medea Insurrection rewrites the male-dominated narrative of postwar European art.

Artists include: Magdalena Abakanowicz, Allerleirauh, Monika Andres, Tina Bara, Annemirl Bauer, Sibylle Bergemann, Geta Bratescu, Orshi Drozdik, Erfurt, Else Gabriel, Angela Hampel, Christa Jeitner, Magdalena Jetelova, Judit Kele, Bela Kolarova, Alena Kucerova, Angelika Kroker, Zofia Kulik, Verena Kyselka, Katalin Ladik, Natalia LL, Ana Lupas, Dora Maurer, Ewa Partum, Evelyn Richter, Zofia Rydet, Zorka Saglova, Christine Schlegel, Gundula Schulze Eldowy, Cornelia Schleime, Adriena Simotova, Gabriele Stoetzer, Erika Sturmer-Alex, Alina Szapocznikow, Karla Woisnitza, Hanne Wandtke and Doris Ziegler.