Her sassy intellect and irreverent, female mouth, throwing caution to the winds - drive the images of her videotapes toward paroxysms of resistance, barely disguising, with scalpel-like irony and wit, the ways in which we should all be fed up to here with the cultural and political lies permeating daily life in these United States. You come away from her tapes invigorated - with a sense of possibility: for feminism, for women together, for social change, even for men and women. " - Yvonne Rainer
Obituary
Joan Braderman, a visionary in the world of experimental and feminist video and cinema, died peacefully at her home in Northampton, MA on July 4, 2025. Joan was born and raised in Washington DC. She was the only child of Gene and Betty Braderman and attended the public schools. She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1970. After graduation, New York became her North Star, offering possibilities of potent connection between her political commitments and her artistic work. While a graduate student in Cinema Studies at NYU and a faculty member at the School of Visual Arts, Joan developed a keen interest in the women's liberation movement, the anti-war movement, and the fight for community empowerment by the Black and Puerto Rican residents of New York. In 1975, she became a founding member of the art collective Heresies whose regular publication featured the work of feminist artists, critics and editors. It would later become the basis for her crowning artistic achievement -THE HERETICS - a retrospective film premiering at the Museum of Modern Art in 2009. With a singular mix of political insight and visual invention, the film brings into sharp relief the ways that the exceptional energy of the Heresies collective succeeded in challenging the exclusionary practices and norms of the art world. Starting in the 1980's Joan was a pioneer in the medium of video art. Standing out among her earlier works is the groundbreaking video JOAN DOES DYNASTY (1986) – in which Joan performs her signature "stand up theory" and thereby introduced the concept of political performance to the growing body of feminist art and criticism.
In 1986 Joan joined the faculty of Hampshire College where she continued to strengthen its highly respected Program in Film, Photo and Video. She inspired countless students to explore the intersections of art, media and activism. Over the years, she cultivated student partnerships in her own artistic production. Her devotion to her students was matched by theirs to her. Her teaching, her artistic work and her political activism were marked by an unwavering commitment to challenging power structures on screen and behind the camera. Joan's voice was fearless, funny and radically original.
Despite her long struggles with chronic illnesses, Joan was always determined to find ways to enjoy life. She was passionate about her friendships and her cats. She loved to sit on the beach and swim in the ocean. She traveled widely and with an unbridled sense of adventure. With her partner, Bob Reckman, she created a life that others wanted to join. Joan has left her blessed mark on the world by the art she created and the lives she touched.
Any memorial donations should be made to the Fisher Home in Amherst.
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To see Joan's work and find out about upcoming events and exhibitions, please see: www.joanbraderman.com
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It was Fall of 2002. Linda and I had just seen our second son off to college in Quebec and we headed directly to Foz, Portugal, where I had a Fulbright teaching appointment at the art school of the Catholic University of Porto. Little did we know that Joan Braderman and Bob Reckman were heading our way for the same reason—Joan was to teach film, and I to teach interactive design and Chinese cinema. I believe we met at the home of the person who coordinated our appointments, and we bonded immediately, spending several nights a week together in small restaurants and fado houses for the more than three months of our appointments. As proper Midwesterners, we were scandalized that Joan had imported a certain plant (for medicinal purposes, of course) in a part of her wardrobe where she was least likely to be searched. The consumption of port wine was also part of our routine, notably outdoors on the banks of the Douro on a precious night in October, watching the ships pass.
On our return to the United States, we kept in touch always. Bob and Joan came to our Pittsburgh home, and we passed many times through Northampton on our way to Montreal. They hosted us at a rental on Martha’s Vineyard, and in their Battery Park apartment in NYC. Joan was always equal parts generous, loving and irreverent, and our meetings included recounting of stories too good to be true, but too much fun to not tell one more time. I know that Bob will carry the torch for this unforgettable woman, their partnership, and the many friends who will continue to honor her memory by telling at least one can-you-believe-it anecdote from her long and creative life. Our serendipitous encounter and its magical aftermath will also follow us to whatever point marks the end of our journey.
Christopher Mark Jones, Pittsburgh, PA
I’ve been thinking about Joan.
I have a framed embroidered handkerchief she bought me in Portugal when we were all there together in 2002 and it hangs in our kitchen. I see it every day. I love it. It reminds me of Porto, and naturally it reminds me of Joan, too.
I noticed some port wine glasses in our kitchen hutch the other day. I don’t drink port wine in the summer, but I will in the winter. Port wine! OMG. We share a port wine experience with Joan and Bob, in Porto, Portugal, that is unparalleled.
The distance between Pittsburgh and Northampton has meant that we haven’t often been able to be in the same rooms together but some friendships have unique roots and that’s how I feel about my relationship with Joan.
I’m so lucky to have had her in my life, albeit mostly from a distance. Her infectious laughter, the twinkle in her eye, and her deep appreciation for irreverence are things about her that we all will cherish.
Linda Benedict-Jones
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