Shortly after completing “The Dinner Party” (1974-79), her monumental installation honoring historical women, artist Judy Chicago started researching depictions of birth in Western art and found there were hardly any. She remarked, “If men had babies, there would be thousands of images of the crowning.” Determined to fill this gap, she took matters into her own hands. Chicago observed a live birth, with the consent of San Francisco-based designer Karin Hibma, who allowed her to sketch in the delivery room. Additionally, Chicago sent detailed questionnaires to over 100 mothers, asking about their desires for having a baby and the permanent physical changes they experienced. The result of her efforts is “The Birth Project” series (1980-85), which consists of painted, woven, and embroidered images portraying women in labor. A portion of this series can currently be seen at Chicago’s retrospective exhibition at the New Museum in New York. Many of the images are grand in scale and tone, with breasts transformed into mountains and rivers flowing between open legs. Chicago was essentially creating a new visual language that connected birth to divine creation. Interestingly, according to Massimiliano Gioni, one of the curators of the exhibition, the complete series has never been displayed to this day.
Birth is a universal experience shared by every person who has ever lived. However, apart from depictions of the Virgin Mary, images of pregnancy are largely absent from Western art, and images of labor are practically non-existent. Historically, birth was considered extremely dangerous, with a fatality rate estimated to be as high as 1.5% in the 16th and 17th centuries. Consequently, portraying a pregnant person was seen as ill-omened, and the bloody nature of delivery made it unsuitable for public consumption. Furthermore, most artists and gallery owners were men, placing them at least one step removed from the birthing process. As a result, Frida Kahlo’s “My Birth,” painted in 1932, is likely one of the earliest known modern depictions of birth in visual art.
However, over the past decade, a multitude of birth images have emerged, and institutions have become more willing to exhibit them. Chicago, now 84, notes that there is a younger generation of male and female curators who have developed an interest in this subject. Just as motherhood has become a popular topic for exhibitions and art books in recent years, discussions about birth have also entered museums and galleries. Particularly in the years surrounding the Supreme Court’s decision to revoke the constitutional right to abortion in 2022, this trend has become more pronounced. For instance, last year, Scottish painter Caroline Walker showcased monumental delivery scenes in London, inspired by her residency at the city’s University College Hospital maternity ward. Polish artist Agata Słowak included a painting of a naked figure giving birth to a red demon-like creature in her solo show at Fortnight Institute in New York this spring. At Pace Geneva this fall, American artist Loie Hollowell displayed new paintings from her “Splitting Orbs” series, featuring abstract representations of a dilating cervix. These images, presented at a time when women’s bodies and lives are under threat, can be seen as a form of protest, even if they were not initially conceived as such. They seem to ask how anyone could be forced to undergo the experience of being forcibly opened against their will.