Painting an unequal parity

Women have occupied spaces that were unthinkable a few decades ago. And yes, her art too is slowly seeing the light of day.
Painting an unequal parity

CHENNAI: The dawn of October saw many among us queuing up to board flights or trains to the land of rasgullas. Weary of the Singapore Kodaikanal circuits where the only sightseeing one can ever do nowadays is an observation of a thousand other fellow tourists, experience-hungry travellers are turning to the ‘never-fails-to-surprise’ realm of art and culture.

And what better way to soak in a bit of that culture than to visit the Grand Matriarch of it all — the Durga Puja in Kolkata. Splendidly decorated idols of Goddess Durga, the feminine epitome of strength and the protective mother of the Universe, are placed on temporary stages called pandals and worshipped for ten days. A spectacular sight indeed, but are we not oceans away from the ground realities of how women are treated the world over

Jitha Karthikeyan
Jitha Karthikeyan

We have undoubtedly come a long way from the days of yore when a woman’s place was in the kitchen. Today she is everywhere. From the cockpits of aircrafts to the most powerful corporate cabins, women have occupied spaces that were unthinkable a few decades ago. And yes, her art too is slowly seeing the light of day. For centuries, like most other fields, art has been a male bastion. The creative urges did not elude women, as you may perhaps conclude, but the prevailing conditions did not allow her to blossom.

Women were not admitted into art institutions and when they were finally accepted, restrictions were placed preventing them from using nude models as reference, thereby rendering it almost impossible to paint anatomically correct bodies. Besides, until the 18th century, history paintings ruled the roost, and female artists were at a disadvantage as they had to comply with social expectations of painting homely scenes.

Is the world of art any fairer now for women? In 1984, a group of anonymous female artists in America, calling themselves the Guerilla Girls and donning gorilla masks to cover their identity, decided to bring forth the injustice of gender discrimination in art. Their intense research revealed shocking disparities, from salary gaps between men and women in the art industry to the opportunities presented to showcase their art.

These facts were made public by printing strongly worded posters which could not be ignored. Their sarcastic statements like “When racism and sexism are no longer fashionable, what will your art collection be worth?” and “The advantages of being a female artist: working without the pressure of success”, embarrassed the power centres of art and conscious changes have been made over time by museums and galleries to correct these wrongs.

Absolute parity though seems a distant dream. A study of 8,20,000 exhibitions around the world in 2018 showed that only one-third featured women. Male artists continue to sell for astronomical sums at auctions with female artists barely on the horizon. It is indeed a miracle that despite the odds against them, many female artists have achieved sheer greatness. The time has now come to pave the way for women to stamp their names in tomorrow’s history of art. May Durga conquer the prejudices that stood as insurmountable walls on the path to success.

Jitha Karthikeyan

jithakarthikeyan2@gmail.com

(Jitha Karthikeyan is an artist and curator, passionate about making art accessible to the larger public)

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