Women's Art Work

Women's Art Work — page 5
Foreword Until very recently the story of art told in the Western world has been focused almost exclusively on the lives and work of male artists Whether in museum collections gallery exhibitions or art history textbooks women have been pushed to the margins and forgotten When Tate first opened its doors in 1897 only 5 out of 253 pictures on display were by women It is only in recent decades that we have started to shine a light on a richer more balanced history to hear the experiences and celebrate the creativity of women in all their diversity Of course this creativity is not in itself anything new Like all humans women have been making art for millennia From the women who first started making devotional paintings around three thousand years ago to Lubaina Himid who in 2017 became the first woman of color to win the Turner Prize there is an unbroken line of great artists who just happen to be women Centuries of discrimination have meant that many have not received the recognition their talents merited or even the opportunity to study work or fulfill their true creative potential The lives of many of these artists have been forgotten the names of many more were never recorded Thankfully over recent years that has started to change Just as our wider society has slowly been reshaped over the past century to be more inclusive of women and other diverse identities so their representation in the arts has gotten ever stronger This has not happened by chance but through the pioneering work of artists activists curators and critics women have been able to break down the boundaries that once held them back and to make their voices heard Groups like the Guerrilla Girls a collective of women artists and art professionals have used their work to highlight the discrimination and issues faced by women in the art world Many others have sought to explore issues of identity sexuality politics and history and by doing so to enrich our understanding of what art is and can be 6