How we talk about reality, how we frame the world in words has the ability to morph trends and expand possibilities. In the world of art especially, how we talk--that we talk--about women artists matters.
To settle for exclusion is not an option for women in the arts. Making art is empowering for most individuals, and that sense of personal empowerment can lull an artist in believing that they matter, when in effect in the grand scheme of things they and their body of work may not matter at all. This is especially true for most women in the art world.
In both the past and present, the cradle of success seems to be an article of furniture designed to recognize, rock and uphold the oeuvres of men almost exclusively. The hatcheries of fame and fortune habitually nurture men to fruition, and throw women by the wayside to glean among the scraps. The effort behind the tendency to coddle the careers of men is so ordinary and seamless that it has become virtually invisible. We see the result of this bias in galleries, auction houses and museums worldwide. To even hint at this inequity amongst the ranks of art world at large raises such a ruckus that it sometimes seems hardly worth it, but it is always worth it, to speak up and out.
I begin here, on this blog, to recognize, to know again the art of women, to raise their names to everyday status, to break this code of silence one day, one word, one work, one woman at a time...
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