Anita Steckel at Wonnerth Dejaco

Artist: Anita Steckel (with readings by Constance Debré and Reba Maybury)

Exhibition title: LUST

Curated by: Juliette Desorgues

Venue: Wonnerth Dejaco, Vienna, Austria

Date: September 8 – October 14, 2023

Photography: Peter Mochi / all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Wonnerth Dejaco, Vienna

For this year’s Curated by festival, WONNERTH DEJACO presents the first European solo exhibition to focus on the work of American feminist artist, political satirist and activist Anita Steckel as well as a series of readings by French writer Constance Debré and British artist, writer and political dominatrix Reba Maybury. Curated by writer and curator Juliette Desorgues, LUST, a term suggestive of both desire and play, is an interdisciplinary programme, which places three transgenerational figures in dialogue to reflect on questions of power, gender and sexuality.

A key figure of the 1950s and 60s New York downtown scene, Anita Steckel developed an oeuvre consisting of photographic, collage- and drawing-based work that blossomed during the context of the Western women’s liberation movement of the 1970s. In 1973, she co-founded the Fight Censorship collective with fellow New York-based feminist artists Judith Bernstein, Louise Bourgeois, Joan Semmel and Hannah Wilke amongst others, a group brought together through their common practice of sexually explicit art against a backdrop of prevailing sexism and puritanism in the art establishment.[1] Drawn from Steckel’s archive and estate, the works presented in this exhibition span five decades of her rich oeuvre, from the 1960s to the 2000s. Phallic symbolism is depicted throughout as a cypher of systemic patriarchal power that Steckel playfully subverts as both an object of satirical intent and an apparatus of sexual desire. The imposing naked bodies of women are also deployed as signifiers both of vulnerable unease and emancipatory release.

Constance Debré and Reba Maybury will perform readings of new and recent texts within the context of Steckel’s exhibition for the opening weekend. Whilst Debré’s style of writing piercingly chronicles her own personal life, the rejection of institutional bourgeois structures and exploration of her queer sexuality; Maybury’s texts act as conceptual manifestos to her work as a political dominatrix which centres on subverting traditional gender power relations through and within sex work.

Echoing the feminist literary and artistic historical context in Vienna, from Elfriede Jelinek to Valie Export, each of these three voices confronts the systemic mechanisms of power, laying bare their structures and subverting their entrapments with humorous, raw and biting force. The self, as a lived and metaphorical entity, is deployed as a key trope to touch on wider questions of sexuality and gender, and especially, women’s role within society. Desire, both imagined and embodied, comes to act as a central cue, one which serves as a form of unabashed disruption to the hegemony of the normative patriarchal public sphere.

The exhibition responds to the framing of this year’s Curated by festival—“The Neutral”— as a provocation. Within the context of today’s social and political upheavals, from the recent overturning of the Roe vs Wade decision in the United States to the denial of Transgender rights in numerous Western countries, any notion of neutrality is debunked when considering the on-going battles over the governance of bodies and the geo-political consequences of these power relations. And yet, given this context, what does it mean to consider the work of a first wave feminist figure such as Anita Steckel in a time of ‘heteropessimism’, as coined by writer Asa Seresin? [2] It is in the refusal towards ambivalence as a political and embodied stance, which marked Steckel’s much overlooked life and work, that answers can be found.[3] As with Steckel, the work of Debré and Maybury indeed also reveals how, in lieu of neutrality, a position may be taken, one which boldly asserts a self-determination that spits in the eye of conservative and repressive forces.

With heartfelt thanks to the artists and galleries: Constance Debré, Hannah Hoffmann Gallery Los Angeles, The Estate of Anita Steckel, Reba Maybury, Ortuzar Projects New York; and to the following individuals for their invaluable support: Hugo Bausch Belbachir, Kévin Blinderman, Julie Boukobza, Steven Cairns, Flora Citroën, Alban Diaz, Cécile B. Evans, David Gyscek, Paul-Alexandre Islas, Axel Koschier, Ursula Mayer, Rachel Middleman, Kenta Murakami, Kari Rittenbach, Asa Seresin and Nicholas Tammens.

LUST: a solo exhibition by Anita Steckel, curated by Juliette Desorgues, installation view, Wonnerth Dejaco, Vienna 2023. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles; Wonnerth Dejaco, Vienna. Photo: Peter Mochi

Anita Steckel, Giant Lion, 1979, print on paper, 90.5 × 106.4 cm. © The Estate of Anita Steckel. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Peter Mochi

Anita Steckel, Giant Zebras, 1979, print on paper, 94 x 109.9 cm. © The Estate of Anita Steckel. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Peter Mochi

Anita Steckel, Giant Rooster, 1979, print on paper, 103.5 x 132.1 cm. © The Estate of Anita Steckel. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Peter Mochi

Anita Steckel, Untitled, n.d., graphite, Xerox print and wallpaper, 38.1 x 50.8 cm. © The Estate of Anita Steckel. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Peter Mochi

Anita Steckel, Untitled, not dated, graphite, Xerox print, wallpaper, 38.1 × 50.8 cm. © The Estate of Anita Steckel. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Peter Mochi

Anita Steckel, Untitled, n.d., graphite and Xerox print, 21.6 x 28.9 cm. © The Estate of Anita Steckel. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Peter Mochi

Anita Steckel, Let me count the ways, c. 1970s, print, pencil and ink on paper, 21.6 x 29.2 cm. © The Estate of Anita Steckel. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Peter Mochi

Anita Steckel, Untitled, 1964–1968, graphite on photo, 18.4 x 24.1 cm. © The Estate of Anita Steckel. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Timothy Doyon

Anita Steckel, Untitled, 1965, Pen on photo, 35.6 x 27.9 cm framed. © The Estate of Anita Steckel. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Timothy Doyon

Anita Steckel, preparatory Collage for ‘Valentine to Brando (Giant Women on New York’, c. 1969–73, photo collage, 27.9 x 20.3 cm. © The Estate of Anita Steckel. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Peter Mochi

Anita Steckel, preparatory Collage for ‘Empire State (Giant Women on New York‘), c. 1969–73, collage on silver gelatin print, 20.3 x 25.4 cm. © The Estate of Anita Steckel. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Peter Mochi

Anita Steckel, Bring it on, 2004-2008, collage on paper, 55.6 × 54.3 cm. © The Estate of Anita Steckel. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Peter Mochi

Anita Steckel, Secret Members, not dated, print, 26.4 x 39.8 cm. © The Estate of Anita Steckel. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Dario Lasagni

Anita Steckel, Legal Gender, 1971, print on paper, 7 x 15.9 cm. © The Estate of Anita Steckel. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Dario Lasagni

Anita Steckel, Untitled, n. d., print on paper, 27.8 x 21.5 cm. © The Estate of Anita Steckel. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Dario Lasagni

Anita Steckel, Dr. Anita Steckel’s Eye Chart, n. d., print on paper, 33.8 x 21.5 cm. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Dario Lasagni

Anita Steckel, Statement on Censorship, 1973, photocopy, 27.9 x 21.5 cm. © The Estate of Anita Steckel. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Dario Lasagni

Anita Steckel, Feminist party’ poster, 1971, print on paper, 55.8 x 43 cm. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Dario Lasagni

Ray Johnson, Piece for Anita Steckel, not dated, drawing, collage on paper, 35.5 x 28.5 cm. © The Estate of Anita Steckel. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Dario Lasagni

Anita Steckel, postcard of Statue of Liberty with Woman Symbol, 1971, pen on postcard, 15 x 10 cm. © The Estate of Anita Steckel. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Dario Lasagni

Anita Steckel, business card featuring ‘New Mona Takes the Brush’, n. d., print on paper, 8 x 6.5 cm. © The Estate of Anita Steckel. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Dario Lasagni

Anita Steckel, exhibition flyer for ‘Westbeth Women Art Exhibition’, Westbeth Gallery, New York, May 4–28, 1973, 1973, 21.5 x 28.7 cm. © The Estate of Anita Steckel. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Dario Lasagni

Anita Steckel, And They Needlepoint, too. . ., n. d., print on paper, 21.5 x 27.8 cm. © The Estate of Anita Steckel. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Dario Lasagni

Anita Steckel, exhibition poster for ‘Steckel/Collage’, Hansen Gallery, New York, New York, 1977, print on paper, 32 x 24.7 cm. © The Estate of Anita Steckel. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: Dario Lasagni

Anita Steckel, Altered photograph of Anita Steckel in front of NY Canvas Series #3, c. 1973. Collection of National Museum of Women in the Arts, Archives of Women Artists. © Estate of Anita Steckel. Courtesy: The Estate of Anita Steckel; Ortuzar Projects, New York; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles

Reba Maybury. Courtesy of Reba Maybury