Analyse the extent to which art institutions remain male dominated. Some institutions actively aim to promote and encourage female artists, but others, particularly state and national galleries consistently show blockbuster male artists. This can be seen as discouraging for women and girls aspiring to work in any kind of art field, but can also just be a reflection of the underrepresentation of women in the art industry.
Many of the blockbusters (although not all) feature artists from the past when female artists were written out of art history. However, many of the other exhibitions at these institutions now focus on major contemporary female artists and many art historians are actively seeking to re-write the histories and include female artists in the story of art. The history of printmaking is particularly dominated by female artists. – AnitaPisch8 years ago
I am not really sure that this is indeed an issue this day and age. I would have to say that in my explorations of art worlds ranging from the alternative contemporary art scene in Athens, to the big institutions of America and Australia; all had a pretty even spread of exhibitions by both male and female artists. Particularly in contemporary art. I think if we look back historically there may be trend of male dominance in the institutions, but I think that is now a relic of the past. Any instances of gender bias I feel are isolated cases, and go both ways. – SoCrates8 years ago
As an emerging dance artist, I can't say that I feel women are discouraged but it is interesting to note some inequalities... I feel that women are over-represented in the industry, resulting in more competition between us. Whereas there aren't as many men who train to become dancers but there are very similar opportunities for them. Although ballet themes have moved away from portraying women as delicate, in my ballet training at times I felt as if I am still treated as such - being told that girls don't do particular steps and repertoire so not to bother learning the technique or practicing it, even though some of my strengths lie in stereotypically male areas like turns and grand allegro. It's also interesting to consider the dominance of male choreographers in ballet, which may typically be considered a female-dominant industry. I suppose you weren't really referring to dance when talking about women being discouraged but thought it might be an interesting consideration of how the dance industry exhibits both sides of the argument. – georgiapierce8 years ago