AllMovie

Filmmaker Chiara Clemente profiles five diverse female artists, each of whom calls New York City home, in this intimate documentary. In the late '50s and '60s, Nancy Spero was on the front lines of the feminist movement. Today she creates art that challenges the polemics of warfare and sexual identity. Pioneering performance artist Marina Abramovic, meanwhile, responds to contemporary cultural issued by using her body as a canvas. Glass, plaster, ceramic, bronze, and paper provide Kiki Smith with the appropriate tools to address philosophical, social, and spiritual aspects of the human body, and Ghada Amer rails against "institutionalized feminism" by painting erotic canvases with traditional needle and thread. Lastly, emerging New York artist Swoon creates vibrant street art that amplifies the pulse of urban life. Over the course of the two years in which Our City Dreams was shot, each artist faces triumphs and challenges that give the viewer a tantalizing glimpse into the creative process.