Under the Big Black Sun: California Art 1974-1981
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles, CA, 2011-2012
Featuring Three Weeks in May
In 2011, Three Weeks in May was displayed as part of Under the Big Black Sun: California Art 1974-1981, at MOCA’s The Geffen Contemporary in Los Angeles, CA. This major survey exhibition examined the rise of pluralistic art practices across the state. According to the show’s curator, Paul Schimmel, “during this period, the California Dream and the hippie optimism of the late 1960s had been eclipsed by a sense of disillusionment during the post-Watergate, post-Vietnam era. The dystopian atmosphere of the 1970s created an artistic milieu that seemed to include everything under the sun.”
Three Weeks in May (1977) exposed the extent of reported rapes in Los Angeles during a three week-long performance in May, 1977. Working from a model provided by her mentor, Allan Kaprow, Lacy conceptualized this piece as an “extended” performance, one made up of many different life-like activities: speeches by politicians, radio interviews with hotline activists, news releases, self defense demonstrations, speak outs, and art performances. It was framed by time and the geography and strategically used the mass media to further reach an expanded audience.
During the same year as the MOCA exhibition, Lacy created Three Weeks in January, a contemporary exploration of Three Weeks in May and the anti-rape movement 40 years later.
ADDITIONAL EXHIBITIONS
2007, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Museo del Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain
2008, Making It Together: Women’s Collaborative Art and Community, Bronx Museum of Art, Bronx, NY
COLLECTION AND EXHIBITION INFORMATION
Three Weeks in May exists as a printed map and an archive of ephemera and photographs documenting the project. It is available for exhibitions. Please use the contact section on this site for more details.