First Large-Scale Art Exhibition Featuring All Female Artists

The Centre Pompidou

Camille Morineau has organized the first large-scale art exhibition solely showcasing the work of female artists, entitled, “elles@CentrePompidou.” The exhibition, which opens this Wednesday at the Centre Pompidou, a world-renowned Parisian museum, includes 500 pieces created by over 200 women. In an industry that has historically recognized and showcased male artists, the emergence of this exhibit could generate awareness of lesser-known women artists and work and could serve as a catalyst for greater appreciation of female artists. The exhibit also prompts visitors to recognize how much discrimination against women has persisted in this industry, a fact that Morineau believes goes unnoticed by most museum visitors.



After reading about the new exhibit, I was reminded of a feminist activist group, the Guerilla Girls, who have been exposing sexism in the art world since 1985. The gorilla-mask-wearing group members create billboards and posters (like the one above), write letters to curators and take to the streets in their masks in an effort to encourage more museums to diversify their collections. The Guerilla Girls are concerned with increased access and representation for women artists and artists of color.

I think the ideas promoted in the "elles" exhibit are ones that are needed, and I'm glad that such a prominent museum has come forth with the exhibit, as it sends a clear message of support for female artists that I hope they will follow up with long-term investment in more works by female artists and artists of color. I would be interested to see a push, not only for increased representation, but also for a larger number of works by women and people of color whose work does not follow the artistic themes throughout history, but instead tell their own, alternative story that cannot be found in the prevailing style or theme of the time. Of course female artists whose work rivals Van Gogh’s, DaVinci’s and Radko’s are important and should be recognized, but artists who have a different concept of what art is and can expand and diversify that dialogue will really help to transform the art world and forward the conversation.