Joan Semmel: 141 Prince Street

Joan Semmel presented a solo exhibition of paintings from her Erotic Series (1972) at 141 Prince Street Gallery in New York. The artist rented the space and organized the show after she was unable to find gallery representation.

The same year, Semmel joined artist Anita Steckel’s Fight Censorship (FC) group, whose aim was to establish a greater acceptance of sexually explicit work, like Semmel’s Sex Paintings (1971) and Erotic Series (1972). As the FC press release explained, the collective was dedicated to “women artists who have done, will do, or do some form of sexually explicit art, i.e., political, humorous, erotic, psychological.” Reflecting on the censorship of this time, Semmel recalls, “I did not want to romanticize the sexual experience but to develop a language whereby a woman could express her own desires, whatever they might be, without shame or sentimentality.”