Rachel Rosenthal, une artiste écoféministe de la performance

Abstract

This article explores the work of French-American artist Rachel Rosenthal (1926-2015), who moved to Los Angeles in the 1950s to flee Nazism. She was a historical figure in performance art, which she helped to create, in connection with her training in classical dance, theater, music and visual arts. She was close to the West Coast feminist movement, largely inspired by the ecofeminist writings of Mary Daly, Susan Griffin and many others. Among her favourite themes since 1981 were social justice, cosmology, and ecology, which she approached in a spiritual way, invoking The Goddess and culture before patriarchy, a personification of the Earth and its inhabitants. Animals are also central in her work. She even collaborated with some of them, such as a rat named Tatti Wattles, to whom she dedicated a book, a true homage to her beloved totem animal. A visionary, Rosenthal is emblematic of a transformation in progress.

Keywords

• Rachel Rosenthal
• Ecofeminist Arts
• Performance
• Contemporary Art
• Matriarchy
• Goddess·es