Because Judy Chicago changed her name from Judy Gerowitz as a gesture of feminist empowerment and made a concerted effort to turn the word cunt into something celebratory, it's easy to forget that before (and after) she became an activist powerhouse, she was a masterful craftsperson. Her show at Nye+Brown, of work she made in the late 1960s and early 1970s, shows this mastery through precise colored-pencil renderings, glossy acrylic domes and funnily abstract game sets built in the mid-'60s. 2685 S. La Cienega Blvd.; through March 31. (310) 559-5215, nyeplusbrown.com.

Mondays-Sundays. Starts: Feb. 17. Continues through March 31, 2012

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