Though Lorraine O’Grady began her artistic career later in life, she became one of the most influential conceptual artists of her generation. Through performances, photo-collages, and writing, she challenged ideas of race, class, and gender, most notably in her groundbreaking 1992 essay Olympia’s Maid: Reclaiming Black Female Subjectivity, which critically examined representations of the Black female body in Western culture.
Multidisciplinary artist Kembra Pfahler reflects on her DIY practice and long career shaped by “availabism,” a concept she developed while studying at the School of Visual Arts that embraces using whatever materials are at hand. Known for her boundary-pushing work across performance, music, and visual art, Pfahler has also collaborated widely, including co-curating Future Feminism in 2014, which featured artists such as Laurie Anderson, Kiki Smith, and her former teacher Lorraine O’Grady.