Women Can't Paint: Gender, the Glass Ceiling and Values in Contemporary Art

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In 2013 Georg Baselitz declared that women dont paint very well. Whilst shocking, his comments reveal what Helen Grrill argues is prolific discrimination in the artworld. In a groundbreaking study of gender and value, Grrill proves that there are few aesthetic differences in men and womens painting, but that mens art is valued at up to 80 per cent more than womens. Indeed, the power of masculinity is such that when men sign their work it goes up in value, yet when women sign their work it goes down. Museums, the author attests, are also complicit in this vicious cycle as they collect tokenist female artwork which impinges upon its artists market value. An essential text for students and teachers, Grrills book is provocative and challenges existing methodologies whilst introducing shocking evidence. She proves how the price of being a woman impacts upon all forms of artistic currency, be it social, cultural or economic and in the vanguard of the Me Too movement calls for the artworld to take action.

Reviews

"The content of Women Can't Paint will shake the foundations of an institution where the glass ceiling is not only firmly in place, but as Grrill presents, is descending." - Technical Communication

Author Bio

Helen Grrill is an artist, futurist, writer, editor, and educator lecturing in visual culture. She holds a PhD in contemporary painting, gender and inequality, and her artwork is digitally archived by the Brooklyn Museums EASCFA collection. As an academic she applies disruptive techniques to challenge stagnancy in gender equality, feminist methodologies and the visual arts.