The story appears on

Page A6

January 17, 2016

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » Sunday » The Week

Saatchi hopes to help break art’s glass ceiling

FOR the first time in its 30-year history, London’s influential Saatchi Gallery is to hold a female-only exhibition, showcasing 14 of the brightest stars in the art world.

Exhibits at the “Champagne Life” show include stuffed animals, giant portraits, abstract sculptures and a giant wall of saucepans.

The show’s organizers said the works highlighted the diversity among female art, and its value to art lovers of both genders.

“We’re not bringing them together as some kind of needy group, this really is about celebrating women’s contemporary art and being quite deliberate in saying these women don’t have anything in common,” Saatchi Gallery CEO Nigel Hurst said.

The gallery has established a reputation for supporting female artists, helping launch the career of Tracey Emin, among others, and hopes the exhibition will contribute to redressing disparities within the industry.

“The art world has a glass ceiling. If you look at the number of people going to art college it pretty much splits 50/50. If you look at the top 50 auction lots in 2015, only three of them were by women artists,” said Hurst.

Wider exposure would boost the price of female artwork, he added, urging gallery bosses to modernize.

“The art industry is like every other industry, if you take a break from what you are doing, you are perceived as less focused, less professional, less serious than you should be,” he said.

“Even though it’s getting much better, a huge amount of work remains.”




 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend