Shirley Kassman

During the 1970s and 1980s, Shirley Kassman used color, texture, and composition to express what it meant to be a woman and an artist.  From a feminist perspective, she challenged prevailing notions of women’s art being inferior to men’s art.  While questioning whether or not there was a distinctive “female iconography” or “female style,” she, like Judy Chicago, created sexually symbolic works to represent power politics.

Kassman was a professor of design and acting chairperson (1982-83) at the State University College at Buffalo.  She served as president of the Buffalo Society of Artists in 1978.