On This Spot - Lee Bontecou

A Challenge to Male Dominion Lee Bontecou’s abstract wall reliefs of welded steel and canvas brought her the kind of notice reserved for men in the 1960s art world. In 1960, she was the only woman showing at the Leo Castelli Gallery, a bastion of male pop art stars. Bontecou worked in SoHo in its early days as an art district and became world famous when architect Philip Johnson commissioned a 21-foot-wide piece – including a piece of a WWII bomber – for Lincoln Center. She moved to rural Pennsylvania where her work turned away from urban assemblage and toward nature.