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Judy Chicago

Judy Chicago - The Dinner Party.png

Judy Chicago - The Dinner Party.png

Contemporary artists such as Judy Chicago (1939-) have engaged with the visual and material language of Christian settings. Her work The Dinner Party can be seen as related to the Eucharist. Similar to the carefully crafted objects used during mass, Chicago stages her dinner, which is dedicated to women in history, through precious and elaborate dinnerware that includes golden chalices, individually designed ceramic plates and a special gold-rimmed table cloth onto which Chicago embroidered by hand the names of those women for whom the table is set. While the purpose of the chalice veil is to cover a chalice filled with sacramental wine, it plays an important role in the performance of the Eucharist in which the priest ritually unveils the chalice at some point to celebrate the worship of Jesus Christ. Similarly, Chicago’s dinnerware celebrates the presence of deceased key figures in history that range from the ancient Greek poet Hypatia to the 20th century American painter Georgia O’Keeffe. While the chalice veil is involved in the celebration of the body of Christ, Chicago’s work celebrates the female mind and body.[cf]