Hella Feminist

July 29, 2022–Jan. 8, 2023 | Great Hall

Featured as one of the 9 Bay Area art exhibits you can’t miss by the San Francisco Chronicle Datebook

Feminism. It’s a loaded word; as empowering to some as it is challenging for others. OMCA takes on this complex and timely topic with Hella Feminist, celebrating the lesser-known stories of feminism here in Oakland and the Bay Area.

Bringing together historic objects from the Museum’s collection such as posters, pins, and photographs, alongside newly commissioned works by artists, Hella Feminist is rooted in the idea that discrimination against all elements of identity (gender, class, race, sexual orientation, physical ability, education, age, etc.) is interlinked and that no element can be addressed in isolation.

The exhibition aims to challenge, provoke, and inspire visitors to reconsider and expand their understanding of feminism and its complicated history.

Highlights

Mourning Wreath, Angela Hennesy
Ms. Clingfree, Judy Dater
Gabriela with Tree, Shizu Saldamando
My Memories, Ideas, and Experiences Make Me Full, Malaya Tuyay
Hex the Patriarchy graphic, Inés Ixierda and Lacey Johnson/Bruxeria Designs
Raqui and Tongson, Smogcutter Karaoke, Shizu Saldamando
Black Rainbow Planet #4, Black Rainbow Planet #3, Black Rainbow Planet #2, Serenely Self Possessed and Free From Agitation, Dueling Planet, Angela Hennessy
WORK, Miriam Klein Stahl and Kate Schatz
Flo (Standing Woman), Elizabeth Z. Dougherty

“Hella Feminist is informative and inspiring, but most importantly, it is a place to pause and issue a sigh of relief before the next big sprint.”

KQED

“The exhibition’s stories weave together deftly to capture the complexities of feminism in this current moment, while also de-centering the dominant narratives that have historically erased the work of feminist artists and activists of color.”

Ms. Magazine

“The show presents provocative new art works that speak to people’s of-the-moment grief, rage, joy or hope…”

Mercury News

More

A Conversation with 3 Bay Area Abortion Practitioners

We invite you to tell your story. Help populate the phone line with messages. If you’re interested, please call 510-324-9774 to record any strategies, words of support around the anti-abortion, anti-trans legislation or any other general restrictions on body autonomy that you wish to share.

Radical Monarchs Video
Mourning Meditation by Angela Hennessy
WORK
Sponsors

Hella Feminist is supported in part by the Oakland Museum Women’s Board and Gilda Gonzales & Dr. Ken Wysocki.

Header image: Katherine Sherwood, Olympia, 2014. Courtesy of the artist and Walter Maciel Gallery, Los Angeles. © Katherine Sherwood