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HERESIES: A Feminist Publication on Art and Politics (1977–1993) was a feminist journal that was produced by the New York-based Heresies Collective.
HERESIES was a feminist magazine that published from 1977 to 1993, organized by a collective known as the Heresies Collective based in New York City.[1] Each of the 27 issues was collectively edited by a group of volunteers interested in a single topic under the guidance of the "mother collective"; each issue had its own style and perspective.[2] Subjects included feminist theory, art, politics, patterns of communication, lesbian art and artists, women's traditional arts and crafts, and politics of aesthetics, violence against women, working women, women from peripheral nations, women and music, sex, film, activism, racism, postmodernism, and coming of age.[3][4] The journal was seen as not only a major contribution to the feminist art scene, but a major forum for feminist thinking. Heresies experimented with an editorial format that asked contributors to grapple with hierarchical and societal issues of difference by creating a public discourse in feminist thought and expression.
The first issue was dated January 1977 and had the theme, “Feminism, Art, & Politics.”[5] A frontispiece featured a reproduction of Mandy Martin’s 1975 poster, The Drive Of The US Is To Replace The Traditional Status Values Of The Village Such As Writing Great Poetry With New Ones Like Owning A TV Set. The first issue showed a price of $2.50 on its cover and subscriptions were available at $10 for four issues. Opposite the frontispiece, on the verso of the cover, was a sort of manifesto for the journal signed by members of the Heresies Collective: Patsy Beckert, Joan Braderman, Mary Beth Edelson, Elizabeth Hess, Joyce Kozloff, Arlene Ladden, Lucy Lippard, Mary Miss, Marty Pottenger, Miriam Schapiro, Joan Snyder, Elke Solomon, Pat Steir, May Stevens, Michelle Stuart, Susana Torre, Elizabeth Weatherford, Sally Webster, and Nina Yankowitz. (Only Braderman, Harmony Hammond, Hess, Ladden, Lippard, and Stevens are identified as the “editorial collective.”) Content of the first issue included text from Martha Rossler’s Tijuana Maid, an article by Eva Cockcroft titled “Women in the Community Mural Movement”, a piece by Adrienne Rich titled “Women and Honor: Some notes on lying”, two articles about incarcerated women, a comic by Amy Sillman, excerpts from a pamphlet published by ALIMUPER, Action for the Liberation of Peruvian Women, and works by poets including Assata Shakur.[6] Volume two, number 3, the spring 1979 issue, was the first to identify staff members in addition to the editorial committee. [7] The final issue, LATINA - A Journal of Ideas, was published in 1993; the theme of the issue is thought to have been a direct response of the Collective to continuing critiques of lacking intersectionality they had been receiving from peers in the art world. That issue was not expected to be the final one. It lists upcoming issues on the topics of "Women on Men", autobiography, and hair. [8]
Hearing from individual voices was central to the publication's overall goal. Because they perceived themselves as being silenced by the patriarchy and anti-feminism movements at the time, the women of the publication hoped to use each issue to voice their thoughts on both everyday topics and more encompassing social matters. Each issue was compiled by a different group of women, chosen on an issue-by-issue basis, and edited by members of the Mother Collective. The first issue of Heresies, titled "Feminism, Art, and Politics," included feedback pages for the women to detail their initial hopes for the magazine moving forward, as well as personal thoughts on feminism.[9]
The Heresies Collective attempted to function as an egalitarian system that abolished the idea of a hierarchy and the idea that some voices were more important than others. In modeling a new structure for working together, HERESIES emphasized a culture that would provide women with real alternatives to the patriarchal structures which they already experienced on a daily basis.[9] Arguably, the non-hierarchical structure of production caused difficulties and slow-downs in producing issues as time went on, and, ultimately, led to conflict and the dissolution of the Collective in 1993.
To communicate a range of feminist ideologies and individual voices, each issue of Heresies contained a variety of artworks and written pieces submitted from women artists. By publishing their works and embracing commercialization in the name of widespread awareness, the Collective hoped to push back on the prestigious, male dominated art scene at the time.[9] Their artistry also pushed to challenge dominant practices employed by popular magazines at the time. Through inexpensive methods of collaging, sewing, and appliquéing, the women assembled a reproducible magazine series full artistic expression and creative freedom. The artists hoped to reclaim these methods, which were historically assigned to women and deemed unprofessional, in the process.[9]
The artwork and pieces created by the women were all hand-made, both by individuals and through collaborative effort. Rather than focusing on a finished product, the publication valued the rough, D.I.Y. aspects of their productions, feeling it gave pieces a sense of an artist's process. This "inside look" into creative technique also served to communicate to readers that anyone is capable of creativity.[9]
Issue fourteen, titled "The Women's Pages," was unique among its fellow issues throughout the publication's history. One page of the issue was intentionally left blank, and encouraged readers to contribute their own works of art and literature in the privacy of their own issues. In the issue's editorial statement, the collective voiced that the blank page acted as an effort to create a one of a kind issue for each individual.[9] This single page reflected the overall mission of the collective to include all voices and empower their audience. Readers contributing to the page were able to act on their creativity and become a part of the feminist movement.
The Mother Collective were a group of women central to overseeing the publication, and held the responsibility for choosing each issue's topic. The collective would then recruit specific writers and artists they felt could carry out and address the subject in question; these individuals composed the Editorial Group for a given issue. However, these women were often called out for their lack of diversity, as both the Mother Collective and editorial groups were largely composed only of white women.[9]
The concern over the lack of diversity was initially brought to the Collective's attention after the publication of the third issue, “Lesbian Art and Artists" (1977). Initially, the issue was praised for creating a safe space that allowed women to express their sexuality through their work. Enduring homophobia and marginalization from the hegemonic heterosexual culture meant that the issue provided a platform for lesbian women artists that they were typically otherwise unable to utilize.[10] Though the issue included an acknowledgment of the Collective's biases ("We are all lesbians, white, college-educated, and mostly middle class women who live in New York and have a background in the arts"),[10] the issue received criticism for failing to include lesbian artists of color.
Combahee River Collective, a black feminist organization, wrote the all-white editorial group demanding the oversight be addressed. Their letter was published in Heresies issue four, "Women's Traditional Arts," by the Heresies Collective, as a gesture of accountability. In following years, to be more inclusive and focus on the subject of race, Heresies chose topics centered around diversity, and published the issues "Third World Women" (1979) and "Racism is the Issue" (1982).
Around nineteen women were founders:[11]:38–50