A Place at the Table

Judy Chicago always wanted to be a professional artist when she grew up. She never noticed, while wandering the galleries at the Chicago Art Institute, that men had created most of the works on display. “So it was with a great deal of surprise, when I was in graduate school, in my early professional days, that I discovered that some people thought my gender was a barrier to the idea of me becoming a part of art history,” says Chicago. “I set that as one of my goals, and I’ve achieved that.” In fact, Chicago’s 1979 installation, “The Dinner Party” — a triangular table with 39 place settings representing women from myth and history and honoring another 999 — has secured a place in the art-history canon.

In celebration of Chicago’s 75th birthday, RedLine will host Surveying Judy Chicago: 1970-2014, a retrospective of her career that includes older paintings and more recent glass and bronze sculptures that are often overshadowed by “The Dinner Party.” The free show opens with a reception from 7 to 9 p.m. tonight at RedLine, 2350 Arapahoe Street, where it runs through December 27. For more information, go to redlineart.org or call 303-296-4448.
Oct. 17-Dec. 28, 2014