The passion projects of Dorothy Iannone

Dorothy Iannone was not much of a joiner. She was friends with key members of the Fluxus movement, but laughed at the idea of being counted as a Fluxus artist. Tibetan Buddhism, Indian temple art and the Tarot were all important references, and she painted herself as a towering matriarchal deity, but was not, to my knowledge, part of the Goddess movement. Her work occupies a sticky intersection between spirituality and sexuality that does not fit neatly into feminist art. She was certainly interested in women’s power, but also made a beautiful artist’s book of the recipes she cooked as an act of devotion towards her ‘beloved’. She was an intense romantic, who considered great lovers capable of ecstatic unity akin to enlightenment. Today, Iannone might be praised for ‘taking up space’ as a feminist gesture. She instead described herself in terms of passion – for eating, drinking, smoking, sleeping, sex and love.