Court Jester
Court Jester (2007) depicts a dancing jester framed by a house built with multicoloured shapes, paint, patterns, sequins, cut-out characters, and lace. Its vibrant colours demonstrate Schapiro’s skill as a colourist. The various materials – sequins, lace, and paints – recall traditional handwork techniques associated with ‘women’s work’, such as appliqué and quilting. One figure in the frame wears a kimono. Interested in the tradition of kimono-making as a female practice in Japan, the garments feature as a significant motif in the artistic practice of Schapiro, most fully explored in her monumental installation, Anatomy of a Kimono (1976).
Court Jester is part of ‘Femfolio’, a series of works by twenty women artists who were influential in the feminist art movement of the 1970s in America. The inclusion of Schapiro in ‘Femfolio’ resonates with one of her aims to construct a female genealogy between women artists of the past and present, with collaboration a key strategy to this end.
