8th of march, Women's day, "SHE Art" with 30 wonderful female artists opened at 850kvm with Streetart Norge. It is an adventure of impressions just waiting there for your eyes, in the urban Oslo area Vulkan.
Opening hours: Tuesday - Sunday: 11-18
I have several pieces exhibited here, and had the pleasure of live painting at the opening and a second closed event.
I applaude Ola and Dino, the two men behind Streetart Norway, for putting female artists on the agenda this way, as it unfortunately still is shocking statistics regarding the gender-gap in the art world. This goes far back in history where women didn't have access to academic art training and apprenticeships (Sotheby´s magazine 2018). The mother role has also been (and is) a barrier for the time-demanding art-practice and the academic and practical achievements bureaucratically needed to get acknowledged/recognized as an artist. The statistics on gallery - museum - and auction representation is still ridiculously low for women, not to even mention pricing. The most expensive painting ever sold by a female artist, does not even reach 10% of the most expensive painting sold by a male artist (Forbes, 2022).
Read more about women in art and statistics at National Museum of Women in the Arts
I think the unconscious illusion that male art is more valuable than women's is a strong societal cultural heritage that not many are aware of. Awareness is key to change. The reason all famous artists of all times that we know mostly are men, does not mean that men are better at creating art than women. In fact, about 70% of all art graduates are female.
But men are trained their whole life to confidently take their place, whilst women often excuse their existence when approaching opportunities. So when women go excuse themselves for asking for representation, with a heavy cultural inherited higher odds of profitable return on investment on male art on their shoulders, guess what happens.
I ask of you to notice the ratio between male and female artists at your next gallery/museum or auction visit, and question it if it is significant. Awareness and a large amount of small nudges in the right direction is what it takes to change.
Ms. RED is the finished artwork from my live-painting, and is now available at Streetart Norge.
Catwoman is a strong female character in the male dominated world of superheros and villians, and so I thought it was a good fit to paint her at the "SHE Art" exhibition reflecting the gender-gap in the artworld.
Reference photo by: Mikko Mäkivuoti
Comments