Schneemann’s Eye Body established the woman body artist role

Evidence

Originally a painter, Schneemann had gone beyond the canvas. For Eye Body (1962), she objectified herself, photographed by the Icelandic Pop artist Erro as she reclined naked on a drop cloth amidst the detritus of her loft: “Covered in paint, grease, chalk, ropes, plastic, I establish my body as visual territory.” Indeed, in one of the photographs, she exposed her clitoris. If not the first American body artist, Schneemann established the role. — J. Hoberman, Everything Is Now, 597