Dior Rendezvoused Downtown for the New Museum’s Judy Chicago Retrospective

The Judy Chicago exhibition at the New Museum is finally here. After being honored earlier this year at the 2023 New Museum’s Spring Gala, Judy Chicago presents her first-ever solo New York City museum retrospective. “Judy Chicago: Herstory” encompasses a survey of this legendary artist’s oeuvre, a six-decade pioneering career spanning media and genres.

Judy Chicago’s comprehensive collection spans four floors of the New Museum. Additionally, in the installation titled “The City of Ladies,” Chicago asks pointedly on a long banner suspended from the ceiling, “What if Women Ruled the World?” Surrounded by works of female artists like Meret Oppenheimer, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Frida Kahlo, Chicago’s clarion message extends throughout the galleries: embrace change, stand up for social justice, and make space for female artists. Chicago told Vogue, “The goal of my whole life has been to make a contribution to change. “The City of Ladies,” in conjunction with my work, demonstrates a new paradigm at a time when we desperately need a new paradigm. I’ve made a contribution.”

On the opening of Chicago’s retrospective, the New Museum’s Toby Devan Lewis Director Lisa Phillips told Vogue, “I admire Judy’s commitment to social justice and her tenacity to continue to explore over six decades.” Chicago’s commitment to social justice echoes throughout the exhibit, along with her perspectives on feminism, sexuality, birth and death, and the erasure and codification of women in the art canon. The breadth of her work ranges across a variety of mixed media, including stained glass, photography, sculpture, and needlepoint.

At the crowded opening soirée, artists, collectors, and dilettantes streamed up and down the floors of the New Museum, admiring the artist’s work. Chicago, who attended the opening wearing a black Dior tuxedo, was joined by guests like Kate Young, Derek Blasberg, Kevin Kwan, and Peter Marino. As if mirroring the colorful artwork on display, many guests came dressed in bright hues and bold patterns, including Sarah Hoover in a floor-length red Dior dress.

Immediately following the museum party, close friends and collaborators of the museum made their way over to the Bowery Terrace at the Bowery Hotel for a delightful cocktail party and dinner to celebrate the artistic doyenne. Long, ornately appointed tables beckoned guests like Dianna Agron, Athena Calderone, Michalene Thomas, and Frédéric Fekkai for a seated supper. Tablescapes of lit candles and painted tablecloths complemented pink floral garlands made of orchids, amaranths, irises, and calla lilies. For an extra special added touch, guests dined on Judy Chicago-designed geometric Dior dishes, a truly chic accessory and perfect way to celebrate a moment in “Herstory.”