WE SEE YOU, WE HEAR YOU

COVENT GARDEN, LONDON, 2018 

As women in the art world, we know the stats.

Women artists form only 3-5% of major permanent collections in North American and European museums. Just 3.9% of artworks sold at auction between 2000 and 2017 were by female artists. Only 30% of the 1300 artists at the 45 top commercial galleries in NYC are women. In 2017, work by women constituted only 35% of the art on show at the Venice Biennale.

Oh, and by the way, 51% of the artists working today are women!

But...as women in the art world, we know we can change this. And you can change this too. It’s not difficult and you don’t have to be an activist if you don’t want to.

Just by buying art by women, visiting their exhibitions, lining up for their museum shows, talking up women artists that you love - all that makes you part of the change.

We See You, We Hear You is a show that listens to, observes and celebrates the voices of women artists.

Gender is not a genre, and “Women’s Art” is not some strange and separate category or movement in art history. We have brought together 15 artists from ten countries, different ages and life experiences (from teenager to grandmother) and we are saying: this is what women can do. To be more exact, this is only a tiny proportion of what women can do.

Here’s to a new generation of art-buyers and art-lovers who believe in women artists!

Gender Is Not A Genre: Exhibition Review by Mary Ahearn and installation shots by Yuki Shima.