WOMEN CAN'T PAINT: GENDER, THE GLASS CEILING AND ‘VALUES’ IN CONTEMPORARY ART

In 2013 Georg Baselitz first declared that 'women don't paint very well'. Whilst shocking, his comments reveal what Helen Gørrill argues is continuing and worsening prolific discrimination in the artworld.

In a groundbreaking study of gender and value, Gørrill proves that there are few aesthetic differences in men and women's painting, but that men's art is valued at up to 90 per cent more than women's. 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. Female artists have deliberately adopted more ‘masculine’ ways of painting in order to be validated, such that a new ‘androgynous aesthetics’ in contemporary painting is on the rise.

Museums, Helen attests, are also complicit in this vicious cycle as they collect tokenist female artwork which impinges upon its artists' market value. Helen’s research 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.
This lecture presents both evidence compiled for Dr Gørrill’s PhD and subsequent bestselling academic text Women Can’t Paint: Gender, the Glass Ceiling and Values in Contemporary Art; together with new evidence compiled five years on since #metoo.

Helen will also introduce a new future art history which includes works from both the UK and Europe created to address gender inequalities in the artworld.

We are committed to making our sessions as accessible as possible. If you are unable to pay the full amount for this class, please reach out to us via email at [email protected] and we will provide you with a discount code.