GWA Newsletter May #1
All the art you need to see, watch, do, listen to and more!
Dear Great Women Art Lovers,
I hope you are all well. This week we launched The Story of Art Without Men in the US! On Tuesday night, me and Jerry Saltz took to the stage at the iconic Strand Bookstore in NYC. It was magic. (Maybe we should tour as a duo!?) Thanks to everyone who attended. Tonight we are in DC!
On Monday we unveiled a NYC-themed window at Rizzoli Bookstore. Check it out!
We’ve had some very exciting write ups in the LA Times and Hyperallergic; appeared on the news (!!) such as PBS NewsHour and CBS Saturday Morning; and were profiled by none other than Vogue and the New York Times!
Season 9 of The Great Women Artists Podcast has continued to air, featuring episodes with the pioneering multimedia artist, Sarah Sze:
“…when we were in Covid, my students said ‘it is so hard to make work’. I thought, this is your conduit for this time. The work you make now will be a historical document of what it was to be alive in that. It’s so important for you to get up everyday and make artwork out of whatever is around you. Because as an artist, art is this amazing document that we're leaving to time – to reflect on what it is to be alive in any moment.”
Yesterday we released an episode with one of my favourite writers, Siri Hustvedt, discussing Louise Bourgeois and Artemisia Gentileschi, and the fate of female artists:
“…This is what omission means, right? Omission is when a culture has become so sated with the expected that no one sees it. When I was a little girl, I didn't think, Oh, where are the women? I was taken to some museums in Minneapolis. But I didn't say where are the women? I had to get older to say where are the women? And omission can be hard to identify. Until it's pointed out.”
For the Guardian, I wrote my column on the misogyny in art criticism. I found some scathing reviews for artists such Georgia O’Keeffe and Hilma af Klint, so I asked: when will women stop being seen as easy targets?
”…art criticism remains largely white and male. This is not to say that the critics we do have should renounce their roles; it’s more that we should have additional powerful voices – of different ages and backgrounds. Because if a wide range of people aren’t telling the story of art, then we are not getting the full picture.”
The US Book Tour for The Story of Art Without Men continues this week. Today I head to the Hirshhorn, followed by the MFA Boston, Barnes in Philadelphia, stops in LA and San Francisco, and more! Come join.
Can’t make them? On 25 May 3pm PT / 6pm EST I will be giving an online talk for paid Substack subscribers on the book and answering all your questions. I hope to meet some of you there! Sign up here.
OK let’s have a look at 5 of your TOP 5!
Love, Katy. Xoxo
5 Shows in the UK
Gwen John: Art and Life in London and Paris at Pallant House (from 13 May)
The Women’s Art Collection at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge — the largest collection of art by women in Europe They’re also leading a prize for writers inspired by the visual arts! (ongoing)
Sarah Sze: The Old Waiting Room at Peckham Rye station (from 19 May)
Re-hang of the collection at Tate Britain (from 23 May)
Betty Woodman at Charleston, East Sussex (until 10 Sept)
5 Shows Overseas
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker at National Gallery of Ireland (from 6 May)
Women on Paper at Rijksmuseum (until 30 May)
Lygia Pape: Tecelares at AIC Chicago (until 5 June)
Rachel Jones at The Long Museum, Shanghai
In New York Thinking of You Part II at The Flag Art Foundation (until 3 June)
5 Things to Read
TALK ART: The Interviews by Russell Tovey and Robert Diament
Art is a Drug, by Jarrett Earnest via The New York Review
Clemmie Burton-Hill on her experience of listening to classical music during lockdown, via The Times: “Oh, it was such a saving grace to listen to that language — a wordless language as well — [when] we were on our news feeds all the time.” (She is such a fantastic writer.)
Emily LaBarge on Hannah Starkey at The Hepworth via London Review of Books
Christopher Hawthorn writing about the new (must-see) wing at NYC’s Natural History Museum via The New Yorker (do not miss the Butterfly Vivarium and the Hall of Gems!)
5 Things to Listen to
Sheila Heti on Thinking about Thinking (I loved this interview, a favourite line: "The number of people who feel like they have to get creative writing baffles me ... why do you think this is something you need to do in an academic sense like writing is just something ... why do you need a degree to write? It doesn't make any sense to me. You were writing stories when you were in 12 years old ... why does it have to be conferred on you?")
5 Artists You Should Know About
Julia Margaret Cameron (1815–79)
The trailblazing photographer captured a range of fictional subjects in a soft-focus lens, in line with the painterly aesthetics of her Pre-Raphaelite contemporaries.
Pindell has advanced ideas across painting, collage and film for over 50 years. Her film, Free, White and 21 details her personal encounters with racism in America. Performing two parts, she recites racist accounts endured by both herself and her mother.
Michaela Yearwood-Dan (b.1994)
The London-based artist is hailed for her electrifying canvases which dance with lyrical strokes and bold swathes of colour. Palm-like shapes swarm throughout, with text embedded beneath the compositions.
‘To me, women were often portrayed as sex objects in humiliating poses. I wanted to give my perspective. I liked to portray both man and woman as intelligent and thoughtful people with dignity and humanism that emphasised love and joy.’
Singer uses computer software and industrial materials to challenge the absence of the artist’s hand in her complex creations: ‘I actually want to remove that connection [the hand']; I think it’s way more interesting that you would not be able to have that relationship to it.’
That’s it from me! Happy GWA’ing. Thank you for reading this Substack. If you think someone else might enjoy this too, please spread the word and share this article. If you have any feedback, please comment below.
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Quick question... was this also sent to subscribers by email? Weirdly I don't have it in my inbox.
You and Jerry are my favorites, and I have all of the books in that middle photo. YES! Please tour. Come to Portland, OR! Congratulations on your success, girl!