No women artists in America? or only one?

[maryfletcher4@hotmail.com]

IN 3 hours of Art in America Andrew Graham Dixon only featured one woman artist. Her self portrait as a battered woman with blood shot bruised eyes was selected.
This selection, excluding all the other women artists was ridiculous and outrageous.
Can we have a program on feminist art, presented by a woman ?
Mary Fletcher

[jondavey]

IIRC he was looking quite far back into American history (what they do have of it   ) so the art predates feminism by quite a way. What I saw also predated modernism. Realistically you have to look at postmodernism for the biggest contribution feminism has made to art.

[maryfletcher4@hotmail.com]

He went up to the present day in the third prog. There are in fact women artists in every era and place.

[jondavey]

I have to admit I'm no expert on women artists. I do know that they were underrepresented in modernism, hence the post modern backlash. But that's a fairly academic view. There were probably plenty of women making decent art besides Louise Bourgeois (Borguoies....Bourgouis....I don't know how to spell it). I guess Barbra Hepworth got her fair share of exposure too, but nothing like that of the NY boys, Pollock, Rothko etc...

[maryfletcher4@hotmail.com]

I quote from Peterson and Wilson, who wrote 'Woman Artists recognition and reappraisal from the Early Middle Ages to the twentieth century", published by The Women's Press 1978

'The only places we have not found women artists are places we have not yet looked:women artists have worked everywhere, in all cultures, in all ages, and in all media'

I studied women artists at an evening class in London for 3 years. There is quite a lot of info available, but because many of us were not educated to know of women artists their names do not spring to mind easily.

It is such a terrible omission to find in Gombrich's ' history of art'  no mention of any, it could be aptly retitled, 'The History of Male Artists'

Anyway if people don't know of any or many there is a whole wealth of art to find out about. For years I didn't realise Meret Oppenheim, she of the fur surrounded surrealist tea cup, was a woman.

[jondavey]

I wonder if she ever drank from the fury cup. Sorry about that, I just had to

[Julia Cooper]

Is use of the term feminist out dated? 

[maryfletcher4@hotmail.com]

No it isn't.

[maryfletcher4@hotmail.com]

'Feminist Art practices: rewind, remix and pump up the volume!'

See this 2009 online exhibition for which I was selected along with several better known artists by renowned art critic Katy Deepwell on axisweb.org/artist/maryfletcher    click  ' curated section' to see the whole article Katy Deepwell wrote and all the artists , who were selected without their knowledge, from the axis data base.

Hear also recent woman's hour stuff about current feminism in London, plus recent books e.g.

Women on Screen: Feminism and Femininity in V… (Hardcover) by Stacy Gillis, Melanie Waters

Sarah Waters, Author
"Feminism is part of a wider struggle against the inequalities of race, ethnicity and class - against all inequalities. Surely the real question should be, not 'Why are you a feminist?' but 'Why aren't you one?'"



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Julia, think global - women not allowed to drive in some places, rape statistics, genital mutilation, girls not educated, forced marriages....

Think local, members of parliament, ceiling on women's top jobs, still women earning less than men in similar jobs,
treatment of female t.v. presenters, constant ref to women's clothes etc rather than what they say, artists still depicting headless female bodies with no realisation that this is making them objects like meat in a butchers' shop, porn, women with poor self image and confidence,
girls still not offered anything but pink stuff for children.......

[maryfletcher4@hotmail.com]

http://www.mookychick.co.uk/feminism-politics/activism/yarn-bombing.php

More light heartedly  watch this about Streatham guerilla knitters

[whealdream]

I remember once being very offended by a Dutch feminist who came to see a mixed show I had on at The Rainyday Gallery (4men and 4 women). She went round the show but only looked at the work of three of the featured artists and ignored the other five completely - apparently she thought that Pip Benveniste was a man's name and therefore did not deserve her attention. How stupid can you be ! There are good men artists and good women artists...there are also bad women artists and bad men artists. Judge people on their ability not their gender !!
regards
Martin Val Baker

[maryfletcher4@hotmail.com]

Yes, I agree. don't judge the worth by the gender.

 But is it possible that only one woman was worthy of inclusion in 3 hours of surveying art in the whole of American history?

Gombrich's 'The History of Art' used to have no women in its index, I haven't checked any recent editions.

[maryfletcher4@hotmail.com]

I saw on local t.v. news that Cornish guerilla knitters have been invited to show in New York, does anyone know more?
[Mon 9th spotlight]

[maryfletcher4@hotmail.com]

On 27th I received an e-mail from the bbc, apologizing for the rather long delay in responding to my complaint. They say I was the only one of 200,000 viewers to complain, but that they still take my complaint seriously and it is logged.
I think it is probable that the issue did not cross most viewers minds as most will not have even registered the names of many artists and won't remember or have heard of the women artists who could have been included, precisely because the women are often not included.
Most people don't have the energy or urge to complain, perhaps thinking it will do no good, but I think it was worth doing. How do they know how many watched?