Judy Cooper: A.I.R. Pioneers

October 23 – December 31, 2014
Opening: Thursday, Oct. 23, 4-7pm

This exhibition consists of portraits completed by noted local photographer, Judy Cooper. These portraits are those of a group of women mostly in their late sixties, seventies and eighties who, in 1972 came together in New York to launch the first ever gallery of, by, and for women artists in the United States. In 2007, Cooper returned to photograph them and a few others who joined them shortly after the 1972 founding.

The women called themselves the A.I. R. Pioneers and Cooper chose this name for her body of work showing their images. Cooper’s large format photographs reveal the strength and individuality of the women, as well as the collective spirit of the enterprise they began. The exhibition presents twenty-five images of such women as Nancy Spero, Louise Kramer, Howardena Pindell, and Dotty Attie. A small catalogue which includes a brief history of the founding of A.I.R. and bios of each of the Pioneers, written in their own words, accompanies the exhibition.