"I Never Thought i was Shocking"

The avant-garde artist who bared her buttocks for Yoko Ono, filmed herself having sex when movies still couldn't say the word 'vagina', and made art out of meat long before Lady Gaga talks to Steve Rose as her first solo UK show opens 


http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/mar/10/carole-schneemann-naked-art-performance

Carolee Schneemann reclaimed the female nude in works like Eye Body, 1963. Photograph: copyright Carolee Schneemann

In 1968, Carolee Schneemann caused outrage in Britain simply by giving a talk about art. "I wore farmers overalls," she says, "and I had lots of oranges stuffed everywhere. It was about Cézanne, so I showed slides and talked about his influence – and I kept undressing and dressing. I was naked under my overalls and I'd throw these oranges into the audience, like a still life escaping. Then I'd do my overalls back up and continue the lecture."


Schneemann wanted to be an artist before she even knew what an artist was, but her gender sent her down a very different career path. "I was always discouraged," she says. "Even when I had a fellowship for painting, some of my teachers were very hostile. 'You're taking this too seriously. You're only a girl. Don't set your heart on art.' My boyfriends in college stole my brushes and my books, like, 'We need this more than you do.'"