My poster for (en)Gendered (in)Equity or “Gallery Tally”
“Shiva and Shakti, Twin Flames” by recubejim, used under CC BY – Text added to original, 24X36 inches ©LE Art & Design
I am a Soul first, in a female body second. I am an artist. I am a female artist. Did you know that even today, that the statistics of commercial gallery representation is imbalanced? It’s about 71% male and 29% female in commercial galleries nationwide. Wow! Really? As a working professional artist, I personally represent myself, show in galleries that invite me as well as other “non” art gallery alternative spaces.
Poster maker and Poster at For Your Art Gallery
The more I learn about the gender equity facts in the art world, and consequently, across the board in relation to the existing art world and the world at large, the more I feel inspired to share this data simply to raise awareness. This is not the ’70’s, this is 2014 and we in the Western world are seeing inequality in so many areas. Here is an fabulous website that I enjoy getting real with. Feminist Magazine. A few fun facts from this website:
Source: Guerrilla Girls
- The number of professionally trained artists and art historians in the U.S. – Males 52%, Females 48%
- Percentage of artists at major institutions:
- National Gallery of Art — 98% male, 99.9% white
- National Portrait Gallery — 93% male, 99% white
- Hirshhorn Museum – modern and contemporary art — 95% male, 94% white
- Exhibition opportunities: Juried (artists unknown to juror) – Males 52%, Females 48%
- Exhibitions opportunities: Invited (artists known to juror) – Males 80%, Females 20%
- Gender distribution of visual artists in art texts – Males 90%, Females 10%
- Of the over 100 Tonys awarded since 1947 for theater direction, only 2-5% have been to women Directors; only 2-6% to African American Directors.
So, what am I doing about this, what’s in my hands? I am still making my art, still showing art and have joined a grass roots collaborative project to raise awareness about the gender ration called (en)Gendered (in)Equity or “Gallery Tally”. It is a crowd-sourced, social engagement art project in which over 500 artists from around the world have joined the effort to collect and visualize statistical data regarding ratios of male and female artists in contemporary art galleries. My project poster is shown above. Here is the article in Artillary Magazine that got my attention about this vital project.
Micol Hebron, Photo by Safi Alia Shabaik, 2013
For this inspired poster project, I chose the New York City commercial gallery Cheryl Pelavin because I appreciate her gender values and the history of her gallery is unique. Check it out!
My poster along with 250 others are a part of Los Angeles-based artist Micol Hebron’s collaborative poster project and will be on display in LA at ForYourArt, the show is called: (en)Gendered (in)Equity: The Gallery Tally Poster Project. Timed to open during Women’s History Month, the exhibition will feature over 250 posters, each created by a different artist, representing the gender ratios at Los Angeles and New York art galleries.
Having started in Los Angeles, the project is now in its second phase, focusing on galleries in New York. Subsequent visualizations will include Berlin, London, Chicago, Santa Fe, Portland, Pittsburg, San Francisco and other cities. To see the posters, gallerytally.tumblr.com.
Here’s the Facebook Invite: All are welcome!
(en)Gendered (in)Equity: The Gallery Tally Poster Project
ForYourArt at 6020 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles
March 29–April 25
Opening: Saturday, March 29 – 6 to 9pm
Discussion: 6:30pm
Thank you for reading and I invite you to share your contributions via comments and connections and would love to hear from you via this blog, my face book page, or emaillorien@lorieneck.com.
In love, gratitude and beauty…
An Invitation to Inspiration 
Beautiful Lorien, congratulations!
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