Stephanie Oursler

Stephanie Oursler (b. 1938, Baltimora US – d. 2018, Baltimore, US) was a pioneer artist of the feminist movement, after studying American literature at George Washington University and militating in various civil rights movements in New York, she moved to Rome in the early 1970s. Here, she joined the Rivolta Femminile collective, founded in 1970 by Carla Lonzi, Carla Accardi and Elvira Banotti.

In 1976, she contributed to the foundation of the Cooperativa Beato Angelico, the first space self-managed by female artists in Rome. In these years, she participated in the women-only exhibitions curated by Romana Loda, Magma (1975 and 1977), Altra Misura (1976) and Il Volto Sinistro dell’Arte (1977). At the Multimedia Gallery in Erbusco, directed by Romana Loda, Stephanie Oursler also held the solo exhibitions Happy New Year (1975) and Il segreto del Padiglione d’oro (1979).

Her photographic books 5 Cuts (1975) and especially Un Album di Violenza, published in 1976 by Edizioni delle Donne, are today recognised as a fundamental contribution to the history of the photobook in Italy and abroad. Her works were recently exhibited in the Donata Pizzi Collection exhibitions L’altro sguardo. Italian Women Photographers 1965-2018 (Milan Triennale 2016 and Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome 2018) and in the exhibition The Unexpected Subject. 1978 Art and Feminism in Italy (Frigoriferi Milanesi, 2019).