Judy Chicago first turned to pyrotechnics in the late 1960s in an effort to feminize the atmosphere at a time when the southern California art scene was almost entirely male dominated. Between 1968 and 1974, Judy Chicago executed a series of increasingly complex fireworks pieces that involved site specific performances around California. Some of these works, titled Atmospheres, were intended to transform and soften the landscape, introducing a feminine impulse into the environment, while others focused on re-creating early women-centered activities like the kindling of fire or the worship of goddess figures. Her final Atmosphere of that period took place in 1974 near the Oakland Museum, which commissioned the work. A Butterfly for Oakland configured a 200 foot butterfly that went through a 17 minute life cycle, slowly coming into view, erupting into color, then gradually – as the sun faded – becoming extinguished.
In 2012, Chicago staged A Butterfly for Pomona, her first fireworks piece since A Butterfly for Oakland in 1974. Commissioned by the Pomona College Art Museum, and working with Pyro Spectaculars, Chicago lit up the Pomona College football field with A Butterfly for Pomona.
In 2015, Chicago created the fireworks piece A Butterfly for Brooklyn in Prospect Park in Brooklyn, as the outdoor component of the exhibition Chicago in LA at the Brooklyn Museum. The work utilized one of her most well-known artistic motifs: the butterfly. “A Butterfly for Brooklyn is the most complex fireworks project that I’ve ever done and was created at a level that I could only dream of in 1974,” says Chicago.
In 2020, Chicago produced Garden Smoke in response to life during the pandemic and the feelings of confinement that it engendered. They created a series of small-scale Smoke Sculptures™ within her backyards in New Mexico, which were photographed and printed by her photographer-husband Donald Woodman.
In 2021, Chicago collaborated with Woodman and long-time pyrotechnic partner Chris Souza of Pyro Spectaculars to create Forever de Young in conjunction with her retrospective at the de Young Museum in San Francisco.
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Judy Chicago, Lloyd Hamrol and Eric Orr, Dry Ice Environment #1, 1967, performance at a parking lot in Century City, Los Angeles, CA, dry ice and flares. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo courtesy of Through the Flower archives
Judy Chicago, Lloyd Hamrol and Eric Orr, Dry Ice Environment #1, 1967, performance at a parking lot in Century City, Los Angeles, CA, dry ice and flares. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo courtesy of Through the Flower archives
Judy Chicago, Lloyd Hamrol and Eric Orr, Dry Ice Environment #2, 1967, performance at Century City Mall, Los Angeles, CA, dry ice and flares. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo courtesy of Through the Flower archives
Judy Chicago, Lloyd Hamrol and Eric Orr, Dry Ice Environment #2, 1967, performance at Century City Mall, Los Angeles, CA, dry ice and flares. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo courtesy of Through the Flower archives
Judy Chicago, Lloyd Hamrol and Eric Orr, Dry Ice Environment #2, 1967, performance at Century City Mall, Los Angeles, CA, dry ice and flares. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo courtesy of Through the Flower archives
Judy Chicago, Smoke Gun Atmosphere, 1968, smoke machine, Brookside Park, Pasadena, CA. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo courtesy of Through the Flower archives
Judy Chicago, Orange Atmosphere, 1968, fireworks, Brookside Park, Pasadena, CA. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo courtesy of Through the Flower archives
Judy Chicago, Purple Atmosphere, 1969, fireworks, Santa Barbara, CA. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo courtesy of Through the Flower archives
Judy Chicago, Purple Atmosphere, 1969, fireworks, Santa Barbara, CA. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo courtesy of Through the Flower archives
Judy Chicago, Multi-color Atmosphere, 1970, fireworks, Pasadena Art Museum (now Norton Simon Museum), Pasadena, CA. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo courtesy of Through the Flower archives
Judy Chicago, Multi-color Atmosphere, 1970, fireworks, Pasadena Art Museum (now Norton Simon Museum), Pasadena, CA. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo courtesy of Through the Flower archives
Judy Chicago, Bridge Atmosphere, 1970, fireworks, Cal-State Fullerton campus, Fullerton, CA. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo courtesy of Through the Flower archives
Judy Chicago, Smoke Bodies, 1972, fireworks, California desert, CA. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo courtesy of Through the Flower archives
Judy Chicago, Immolation, 1972, fireworks, California desert, CA. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo courtesy of Through the Flower archives
Judy Chicago, Smoke Goddess/Woman with Orange Flares, 1972, fireworks, Los Angeles, CA. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo courtesy of Through the Flower archives
Judy Chicago, A Butterfly for Oakland, 1974, fireworks and flares, Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA, commissioned by Oakland Museum in conjunction with Sculpture in the City Exhibition. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo courtesy of Through the Flower archives
Judy Chicago, A Butterfly for Pomona, 2012, fireworks and flares, Pomona College, Claremont, CA, performance as part of Getty PST Performance Festival, staged by Pyro Spectaculars by Souza. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Photo © Donald Woodman/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Judy Chicago, The Deflowering of Nye+Brown, 2012, fireworks and flares, staged by Pyro Spectaculars, Los Angeles, CA, performance at the opening of the exhibition Judy Chicago: Deflowered at Nye+Brown. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Photo © Donald Woodman/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Judy Chicago, A Butterfly for Brooklyn, 2014, fireworks, flares and LED lights, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY, staged by Pyro Spectaculars by Souza. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Photo © Donald Woodman/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Judy Chicago, Sublime Environment, 2012, ice and flares, with Materials & Applications, Santa Monica Airport, Santa Monica, CA, performance as part of Getty PST Performance Festival in conjunction with the opening of Art LA Contemporary. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Photo © Donald Woodman/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Judy Chicago, Sublime Environment, 2012, ice and flares, with Materials & Applications, Santa Monica Airport, Santa Monica, CA, performance as part of Getty PST Performance Festival in conjunction with the opening of Art LA Contemporary. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Photo © Donald Woodman/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Judy Chicago, Before the first lighting of Be No More, 2017, dry ice, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Photo © Donald Woodman/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Judy Chicago, Be No More, 2017, dry ice and flares, work was created in conjunction with SFMOMA for their inaugural "Birthday Bash" and Jessica Silverman Gallery. San Francisco, CA, © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Photo © Donald Woodman/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Judy Chicago, Purple Poem for Miami , 2019, Fireworks performance commissioned by ICA, Miami in conjunction with the exhibition, "Judy Chicago: A Reckoning", Miami, FL, staged by Pyro Spectaculars by Souza. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society, New York; Photo by Apolo Gomez
Judy Chicago, Birthday Bouquet for Belen, 2019, Fireworks performance, Belen, NM, staged by Pyro Spectaculars by Souza. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Photo © Donald Woodman/ARS, New York
Judy Chicago, Diamonds in the Sky detail, 2021, Fireworks performance, Belen, NM, staged by Pyro Spectaculars by Souza. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Photo © Donald Woodman/ARS, New York
