Sunday, October 7, 2012

Celebrating Older Women Artists


Collage - Geta Bratescu


This morning my best friend from graduate school send me a link to a wonderful article titled: The rise of the OWAs.  You may want to just stop right now and go read this article especially if you are over 50 and have been working and making art for a long time.  You may also want to go read the article if you have just begun to make art of any sort and you are any age and you are a woman.  Why?  Despite the clear strong demonstration of the talent of women artist, women have not fared as well as men in the art world (specifically white males), receiving neither the recognition or financial rewards they most surely deserved.

The article was written by Rachel Spence and published in Financial Times.  I find it very interesting that this magazine has published the article as it seems to signal that there is money to be made now that collectors are buying work by older female artists....dead or alive.




Portrait of Medea 3'-  Geta Bratescu's


The collages by Bratescu are made from bits of fabric the artist collected from childhood.  You will find three more examples HERE.


My favorite quote from the article is the very first sentence: "Often when it comes to art, the work that wins hearts and minds is different from that which conquers wallets."

Several of the women mentioned in this article are well into their 90's and I think the youngest is late 70's.  Due perhaps to the ages of the artists, most do not have websites dedicated solely to their work.  However, you can find places to catch a glimpse of their work.  You will enjoy Letizia Battaglia, Teresa Burga, Birgit Jurgenssen, Carmen Herrera, Lygia Pape, Suzanne Lacy and Lis Rhodes.  Keep in mind the time frame of the making of much of this work.  It is still fresh and timely.

The article also references Frieze Masters  which is celebrating older women artists.

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