Yuko Shimizu

Yuko Shimizu is one of the most busiest and influential illustrators in the world. She received her B.F.A. and M.F.A from School of Visual Art in NY, and now she is a professor there also a freelance illustrator herself. She was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan (partially in NYC) and moved to NYC completely when she turned to 30. She is known for her illustrations of strong women, sexuality, and female empowerment.

She is very feminist, and also anti-Japan...

http://yukoart.com
http://www.drawger.com/yuko/

Hennessy youngman's advise on how to be an successful artist... pretty hilarious.. In this video he briefly mentions Cindy Sherman.

Shirin Neshat

Shirin Neshat is an Iranian visual artist and a film artist (now lives in New York City), and her works show the conflicts of the social, cultural, and religion in Muslim world. 

I don't practice Muslim, so am not familiar with anything deeper level,,, but her works are super strong to my eyes.

Shirin Neshat

Judy Chicago's Dinner Party

For five years, feminist artist Judy Chicago worked with a community of four hundred other artists, craftspeople and researchers to create "The Dinner Party," a monumental tribute to women of spirit and accomplishment throughout the ages - women whose names have been banished "right out of history." For over four of those five years, filmmaker Johanna Demetrakas followed the progress of "The Dinner Party," recording for posterity the alternately painstaking and exhilarating process of creating this work of unprecedented scale and beauty.

From http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mrFRTEnMPQ

Fuyuko Matsui Explains Her Works

This is interesting video that she actually explains "pain" her paintings have, what is ghost painting,,, violence her paintings have...