Acrpost: A Project of the Pacific Association of Artist Run Centres

SummaryFeminism is often considered as having a definitive chronological and ideological timeline, structured in waves that have since broken and been reabsorbed. Appropriately, The F Word catalogue uses this model as its premise for an investigation of contemporary feminist art practices. The exhibition's title alludes cleverly to the current condition of feminism as an unspoken or "taboo" subject with which some women artists no longer want to be associated. As Karen Henry argues in her catalogue essay "The Trap of Feminism," following the second wave (which was criticized for its essentialist ideals) and the third wave (its highly academic and sex-/gender-inclusive successor), women artists can no longer agree about what it means to be labeled as a feminist. The catalogue also includes essays by Lisa Steele, Alissa Firth-England and Candice Hopkins that address how contemporary feminism incorporates elements of both first-wave and second-wave feminism while also diverging from them. The essayists note a shift in focus from gender-specific issues to a wider range of social issues that reflect the growing diversity of North American publics.