Billy Al Bengston
Billy Al Bengston was a Los Angeles painter who adapted automotive lacquer, enamel, metallic paint, and aluminum to fine art and high-gloss surfaces.
Painter
Judy Chicago
Judy Chicago is an American feminist artist known for sprayed automotive lacquer, acrylic painting, and porcelain china-paint work in The Dinner Party.
Judy Chicago quick facts
Explore Judy Chicago's lacquer-sprayed car hoods and acrylic reliefs, canvas-covered plywood paintings, and fired porcelain china-paint decorations.
| Born | July 20, 1939 · Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
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| Died | — |
| Nationality | American |
| Movements | Feminist art · Minimalism (early work) |
| Paint types | Polyurethane paint |
| Painting surfaces | Acrylic plastic and Plexiglass · Canvas-covered plywood · Metal car hoods · Porcelain plates |
| Painting methods | Spraying automotive and acrylic lacquer on metal or acrylic sheets; brush-applied porcelain overglaze with successive firings |
| Common subjects | Geometric color transitions, abstract forms, women's history, birth, identity, and feminist symbolism |
| Related materials | Embroidery, woven textiles, glaze-fired porcelain, and collaborative needlework in The Dinner Party |
| Notable works | Car Hood · Rainbow Pickett · The Dinner Party |
Sources: Judy Chicago: official biography, Artist archive: sprayed lacquer, latex, and acrylic supports, Artist archive: paintings and industrial coatings, Brooklyn Museum: china paint and textiles, National Museum of Women in the Arts: materials and movements, Artist interview: sprayed paint and porcelain firing, and Official website: material-based practice.
Paint types used by Judy Chicago
Chicago’s Trinity (Outdoor Version) uses Matthews polyurethane paint on a steel sculpture, as the Whitney records, distinct from her painted canvases.
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Polyurethane paint
The Whitney records Trinity (Outdoor Version) (1965/2019) as Matthews polyurethane paint on stainless steel. Chicago applied the industrial coating to a sculptural metal support, documenting a material experiment from her early work. Here polyurethane is a specified product, not a general term for oil or acrylic paint.
Sources: Whitney Museum of American Art: Trinity (Outdoor Version).; Getty: Looking under Judy Chicago’s Car Hood; Judy Chicago: paintings and sculptures
Painting surfaces used by Judy Chicago
Records identify Judy Chicago's use of plexiglass, canvas, and metal, with named examples below showing how each support functions in the finished work.
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Plexiglass
Chicago used Plexiglass and acrylic plastic in sculptural and installation works, where transparency lets the support remain visible. The material appears in her constructed environments and objects, rather than serving as a conventional canvas; this row refers to documented works that combine paint with clear plastic.
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Canvas
Chicago made painted canvases as well as installations and sculptural objects. Some canvases were stretched over plywood, combining a flexible textile support with a rigid backing; the two materials should be distinguished in describing the work’s construction. The installation record distinguishes both layers.
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Metal
Chicago painted on metal car hoods in her automotive works, using found industrial surfaces as a base for color and imagery. These curved metal supports bring the work into contact with automobile culture and differ from her flat canvases or translucent Plexiglass pieces.
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Porcelain
Chicago’s Birth Project and related works include painted porcelain plates. The hard, curved ceramic surface carries imagery designed for a domestic object, extending her use of painted materials beyond canvas and metal into functional and decorative forms. The plates retain their identity as painted objects.
Sources: Judy Chicago: official biography, Artist archive: sprayed lacquer, latex, and acrylic supports, Artist archive: paintings and industrial coatings, Brooklyn Museum: china paint and textiles, National Museum of Women in the Arts: materials and movements.
Painters similar to Judy Chicago
Explore painters sharing Chicago's sprayed industrial finishes, Light and Space-era materials, or feminist work that extends into painted textiles.
Craig Kauffman
Craig Kauffman was a U.S. artist who spray-applied acrylic lacquer to vacuum-formed Plexiglas reliefs associated with Finish Fetish and Light and Space.
Faith Ringgold
Faith Ringgold was an American painter whose oil paintings and acrylic story quilts combine fabric, painted canvas, and Black American narratives.
Mary Corse
Mary Corse is an American painter whose white acrylic paintings incorporate reflective glass microspheres, shifting with light and the viewer's position.