Judy Chicago

01Each of the 999 place settings features a unique ceramic plate with vulvic imagery specific to that woman's historical period.
02Congress voted in 1991 to block 'The Dinner Party' from entering the University of the District of Columbia after public outcry over the imagery.
03The piece required over 400 volunteers working across five years; Chicago documented labor hours as a feminist statement about uncredited work.

A Coleman white gas lantern mantle glowing at full brightness

Gasoline in a glass jar

Judy Chicago spent five years directing hundreds of volunteers to embroider 999 vulvic ceramic place settings for historical women. 'The Dinner Party' debuted in 1979; Congress blocked it from the Smithsonian.