Saturday, January 1, 2011

How to tick the right box on Art's gender?

Art by definition is male. Art is a part of each given culture and society, so much so it not only reflects but also informs and forms those given cultures and societies. It is a mirror image of the world we live in and at the same time it is a map for a new world we are going towards. Western culture and society is patriarchal and there is not much debate about it. Debate indeed is generated about how we change the patriarchal system and to what extent it is harmful to both, men and women (and also people of other sexes or other gender identification, which this culture hardly allows). Everything we as humans do is part of this system and part of our culture, art being one painful example.

By defining art as male I mean the vast majority of art taught, analysed, exhibited, and recognized. There are indeed amazing women who work in the sphere of art and create significant works, and some of them become well-known. However, most women artists create in solitude in a sense that they are not recognised in the world as equally capable of making art. Things have been changing, women have been gaining recognition slowly but surely, however I do not understand why it is comparatively difficult to find relevant information about women artists in contrast to their male counterparts. Why do we even need to add ‘women’ when we talk about art and create a visible division between ‘Women’s art’ and the rest of art (which is then, obviously, male)?

I embarked on a mission to find out more about women artists and the works they have produced and are producing, but searching for ‘female art’ or ‘women in art’ or any similar key words revealed that what the internet search generates are websites and articles about women as art objects mainly. That is, sadly, still a very common perception of women’s relation to art. Man is the artist, woman is the object, and we may be proud and happy to be living in the ‘civilised’ 21st century where equality seems real and flourishing, until we actually open our eyes and realise that women in art are clearly given a secondary place. It is possible to find some information about contemporary women artists or such icons as Frida Kahlo, for example. However, it is quite difficult and frustrating, and it makes you feel as if you are looking for some secret society or some outlaws – to obtain this information you have to try quite hard and spend a lot of time searching. While all that you are doing is just inquiring into the art works of half of the world’s population. It should not be that difficult, clearly?

I do not believe that art is male though. Society makes me feel that way sometimes, but I have my own mind, which I can actually develop and unlearn certain prejudices in order to gain new insights. I do not believe that art has sex, gender, age, nationality, ‘race’, sexuality or any other categories that we people try so hard to put ourselves in. Art is art. Therefore having different perspectives on it is essential. Art history sadly is mostly about male artists, but that is how it used to be, that is what should not be a continued practice. And while we can look back in history to find women artists that were forgotten in order to rediscover them and their legacy, we should not forget to look around us here and now and see what brilliant women artists work and create masterpieces every day. My wish for the New Year is to know more about women artists and their work, to explore the ‘dark side of the moon’ in the history of art and, most importantly, to discover women’s art of today. My wish for many more years to come is to explore and discover art and artists of all sexes and gender definitions, to promote a label-free art and to see the day when gender is irrelevant and the only thing that is relevant is ART.

2011 01 01 er.