Muse

It’s 2022. If you had to guess, where would you say we’re at when it comes to gender parity in major art institutions?

Chances are, your answer was a little optimistic. Among the various statistics that a quick Google search will give you, a significant one is this: while just 4% of modern artists in The Met are women, 85% of the nudes in there are female.

Why does it feel like this is a problem that’s long been solved? For one, women-led shows are over-marketed and mask the still pervasive gender gap in major art institutions – a gap that grows wider when both the artist and subject are women.

In contrast, throughout history male artists have been largely free to represent their female muse in any way they deem fit. The woman as a muse for a man has been a comfortable and palatable way to let women into these spaces without providing them any agency.

Bias exists at every level of the art food chain – curators, collectors, critics, dealers – and it’s a problem that is immeasurably more difficult to solve in a country entrenched in patriarchy. The ownership of women’s bodies has historically been conferred upon men, as have their depictions in art. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to separate gender discrimination in art from that in society at large: they feed off of each other and are similarly persistent.

Art is a trace of the world it exists within. When we disallow women’s observations of the world, there is something that is irrevocably lost and forgotten.

So where are the women painting women?
We put out an open call to find out, and received submissions from across the country; certainly just a fraction of the voices waiting to own and share the narrative of their bodies.

Show Dates : Thursday, 7 April 2022 to Sunday, 24 April 2022 

Show Locations :

Method Kala Ghoda - https://g.page/MethodKalaGhoda

Method Bandra - https://g.page/methodbandra?share