Women's
Art Organisations ISSN 1462-0426
Statistical analyses of the presence or visibility of women artists have
been done repeatedly during the last 30 years in an effort to outline the
numbers of women involved in the art world and the levels of
discrimination at work in their participation. Below are a list of several
surveys related to the position of women artists in exhibitions, museums,
in the cultural industries in general and in art education. Please send
any details of other surveys of the position of the contemporary woman
artist (1970-present) anywhere in the world to:
k.deepwell@ukonline.co.uk
Remember : There are lies, damned lies and statistics ! Statistics may give us some indication of changes in women artists' involvement in the art world and their hierarchical distribution across its institutions (i.e. the largest numbers of women can always be found the bottom of the cultural scale of value and prestige, and the fewest at the top). Statistics are always a retrospective snapshot, they are not a prescription of the level of participation alloted to women. In this sense, they are neither self-evident, nor are they self-explanatory. The same statistics can be used negatively to reinforce as much as positively to challenge current social and cultural policies. What they measure and the methods used to collect or analyse them should be questioned when it comes to assessing positive measures for change in the position of the woman artist.
European Community
Danielle Cliche, Ritva Mitchell, Andreas Joh. Weisand Pyramid or Pillars: Unveiling the Status of Women in Arts and Media Professions in Europe (Germany: ARCult Media/ERICarts/ZfKf, 2001). See also website EricArts - This survey looks at 8 European countries and the situation of women in all the arts and in the media in Austria, Finland, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK. On the visual arts, it finds women artists' presence at between 38%-45% of all artists, 30-60% of art students, 3%-20% of lecturers and professors. Appendices also contain useful information on women artists' situation in Croatia and the Czech Republic. This report is also discussed in Arsis (Helskinki, Arts Council of Finland) special issue on Women in the Arts/Changing Landscapes 02/2000.
Australia
Annette Van Den Bosch "Women Artists' Careers: Public Policy and the Market" in Alison Beale and Bosch (eds) Ghosts in the Machine: Women and Cultural Policy in Canada and Australia. Ontario: Garamond Press, 1998. Critical analysis drawn from different surveys of the position of the women artist in Australia in the last 20 years, especially the 1984 and 1988 surveys of Australia Arts Council on strategies for women artists.
Eric Riddler "Survey Results" in Joan Kerr and Jo Holder (ed) Past/Present: The National Women's Art Anthology (Australia: Craftsman House, 1999) pp.159-168. Lists figures of museum acquisitions, solo shows in Australia from1975-1995.
Germany
Annette Brinkmann, Andreas Joh. Weisand Frauen im Kultur- und Medienbetrieb III: Fakten zu Berufssituation und Qualifizierung / Women in the Arts and Media: Qualification and Professional Outlook (Germany: Zentrums Fur Kulturforschung, 2001). German text, English summary. Contains analysis of the presence of women in the visual arts in Germany.
Fenja Braster and Sandra Sartori "Frauenpräsenz in Ausstellungen Dusseldorfer Kunstinstitutionen, 1969-1998" (Dusseldorf: Kulturamt der Landeshauptstadt Dusseldorf/HSRG, June 1999). A detailed study of the presence in women at all levels of the German museum and gallery system. Figures also available on the web: Frauenpräsenz in Ausstellungen Dusseldorfer Kunstinstitutionen, 1969-1998
Susanne Albrecht, Irene Belwo, Angela Kahre Die Vorteile des Künstlerinnendaseins. Zur Beruflichen Situation von Bildenden Künstlerinnen aus Ostwestfalen-Lippe und zu ihrer Präsenz in Ausstellungsinstitutionen, Verbänden und Netzwereken seit 1970 Irene Below, Lydia Plöger (Hrsg.) Bielefeld: IFF-Forschungsreihe Bd 11, Bielefeld Universität. - University research study of the situation of women artists in Ostwestfalen-Lippe, Germany.
The Netherlands
Pauline Barrie "The Art Machine Part 2" Women Artists Slide Library Journal (London) Feb/March 1988 no. 21 pp.16-17. - Figures researched by Fre Meijer, Nicole Roeperts, Sya Stam & Annet Zondervam for SVBK, Amsterdam, report surveys the Stedelijk, Van Abbemuseum, Kröller-Müller Museum, and some major international exhibitions, 1977-1986.
UK
Pauline Barrie "The Art Machine" Women Artists Slide Library Journal Dec 1987-1988 no. 20. p.8-9 - Figures on exhibitions at the Tate, Hayward Gallery, John Moores Liverpool Exhibition prize and lecturers in art education.
Pam Skelton "Women and Art Education" (National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education) NATFHE Journal May/June 1985 pp.18-21. Overview of the relationship between women teachers and women students in art schools.
Women Working in the Arts (London: Arts Council of England document, 1992)
USA
R. Rosen and C. Brauer (eds) Making their Mark:Women Artists Move into the Mainstream,1970-1985 (USA, Abbeville Press,1989). Ferris Olin has compiled an good overview of women artist's visibility in art journals, exhibitions and analysis of different US arts organisations in the 1970s and 1980s.
The Guerrilla Girls The Banana Report: The Guerrilla Girls Review the Whitney (exhibition catalogue, The Clocktower, New York, 1987). See also the Guerrilla Girls website.
Please send any details of other surveys of the position of the
contemporary woman artist 1970-present to:
k.deepwell@ukonline.co.uk
. If you have any critiques of these surveys, please email your comments
with a view to publication on this page.