Abstract

This thesis develops a reading of feminist art in Quebec that demonstrates the way that it emerged and evolved at the conjuncture of feminism, the visual arts and discourses of nation. It begins by arguing that feminist art is a discourse that is produced across artworks, the exhibitions and texts that present and position these works, and the larger discursive and non-discursive practices through which artworks, texts and exhibitions are formed and have their effectivity. The reading itself is structured around three 'moments', corresponding to the formation of feminist art in the mid-1970's, the exhibitions Artfemme '75 and La Chambre nuptiale ; its elaboration in 1982, Art et féminisme and Réseau Art-Femmes ; and further shifts and problematizations in the early 1990's, Instabili and Pour la suite du Monde . Each chapter begins with individual artworks before examining the ways that they are taken up and articulated into exhibitions, institutional practices and forms of governmentality. Together the chapters evidence the ways that discourses of feminist art have shifted over time. Through this the thesis demonstrates both the social and discursive locatedness of feminist art and, within Quebec, the ways that the visual arts are productive of discourses on culture, identity and nation.