HERSTORY: A Group Exhibition of Contemporary South African Artists

Opening Speech by Mariapaola McGurk

Many years back I went to the theatre with my family. At the end of the production the audience gave a standing ovation, and the artistic director came and said some words. She expressed the challenges it had taken to get to that point and how audiences were not coming and not supporting enough for the production to be sustainable and have longevity. She was angry. She was frustrated.

When we left my father said to me – ‘she may be angry and perhaps there is not enough support – but we were there. She was speaking to the wrong people, we are the supporters!’

I am very aware of getting caught up in the same way as that art director as I speak to you about HERSTORY and why there is such a need to elevate and develop female artist, female curators, female gallery owners and female collectors. So let me start with a huge thank you.

Thank you to Artyli Gallery for the commitment, professionalism and care they show in their approach to the visual arts sector. Thank you to all of you for being here, for seeing and for supporting the visual artists of South Africa. Finally, thank you to the artists for persevering, for committing, for being.

To start with – some context. I am a visual artist, and like many artists I juggle a few balls – I am a researcher, lecturer and, often told, a provocateur. When I was twenty-one years old and had just completed my diploma in visual arts I had one mission – I wanted to be a painter and learn how to paint properly. One day I was walking in Jozi CBD and came across a painter working on a mural of a jazz musician. I approached her and asked if she would teach me how to paint and that I would even work for free to learn. She hired me (and paid me :)) and for many years I learnt a great deal from her. I learnt about the technical side of painting and understanding paint, its limitations, and its possibilities – I also learnt elements of the business side of art and became aware of the strange space that divides the visual arts sector and the commercial arts sector.

HERSTORY is a title that has many layers. I have always believed that the true purpose of art is the telling of a story. The telling of a time. The telling of the emotion and perception of that time through the lense of one person. That is why the artist must find their voice and gain the skill and authenticity to relay that voice through their art. This is no easy task as in order to tell your story or explore your ideas you have to gain confidence in both the value of your perceptions and the methods in which you relay that story.

Take my story for example – For many years I wanted to change my lense. I really enjoyed artists’ works that were full of layers, symbolism and sketcherly in nature – full of lines and shadows, or colours – Diane Victors symbolism, or Blessing Ngobeni’s freedom with paint for example. But that is not my story, nor my lense and it took maturity and time for me to accept the stylistic and simplistic nature of my works. It also took the search of the right medium to work in.

To tell ones story is a lifetime journey.

But we live in a changed world! We live in a democratic free world. Right? Male and female creatives from all sectors within the creative economy are equal. Treated equally and have equal opportunities. Right?

That would be wishful thinking and unfortunately being seen and real representation are not the same thing.

A few weeks ago I attended a seminar on women in the music sector. Leading female voices and artists were part of the panel discussion and the issues are prevalent there too. Female artists are simply not taken as seriously and really have to fight tooth and nail to change that.

The frustration is in the assumptions…. Male artists are assumed to be serious artists whereas female artists are assumed to be Sunday crafters. That is even more so if you are above 35 years old. If you are married and have children the struggle to be taken seriously gets even worse. Of course this is not the case of male visual artists – their marriage status and their choice on having children is seen as irrelevant to their practice and their intellect. These double standards are almost impossible to fight because they are so subliminal, and not spoken about but female artists know. I have had female artists say to me that they chose their career over a family because it is impossible to juggle both within this sector.

In an article written by Anna Louie Sussman in 2019 (Click here) she explores a strange phenomenon that happens to female visual artists in their mid career. As one gallerist, Mary Sabbatino puts it: ‘At middle-age, women no longer comfortably conform to the wild child image the world expects of an artist’. Marilyn Minter who is a 70-year-old artist believes the issue lies with the reality that the visual arts sector is male dominated, included predominantly male, older collectors.

These older male collectors have a different perception of women and their role within society – a perception which is often carried on to through generations, even within our ‘equal’ society. The women they know and loved were often housewives, nurses or teachers. They were not artists in any serious sense. Their idea of woman is not the same as their idea of men and that feeds into how they perceive female visual artists and their lack of investing in them.

When a female artist is young, sexy, and a little wild – the visual arts world engages but there as a shift that happens when that artist chooses to have children and/or enters her forties. The artworld doesn’t know what to do with them – they cannot see them as rebellious fighters of the system – but if they can persevere and fight through those mid-career blues, the art world looks more favourably on them as older artists. They can then fall back into the eccentric category which was not possible in the mid-career.

The irony is that during those mid-career periods many female artists who have children are strongly impacted by birth and the dependency of another life on them. Their works change and their approaches often change often, many say, including myself – for the better. So as the careers of their male counterparts are growing during their forties and fifties, and as female artists watch their family and friends’ careers grow substantially in the same period as they become seen as the leaders, the experiences and skilled within their industries – female artists are fighting to not be invisible. I found it so wonderful and so so sad to see that we have fellow artists knowing this in the music industry where some call the mid-career period for female artists – the invisible years.

The issue, sadly, goes deeper and to make a living as a female artist is more challenging than a male artist – similar, again, to the music industry.

In an article in Forbes by Kim Elsesser (Click here) she explores the gender pay gap in art. Of the 196 billion dollars spent at art auctions between 2008 an 2019 works produced by women only accounted for 4 billion, or about 2% of the sales. The obvious argument is that up until recently female artists were not part of auctions so there are no female artists in, for example, the renaissance period. So – if that were true then the auction within the contemporary art sector for living artists would be more equitable, but according to Barneby’s (Click here) – in the category of highest selling Jeff Koons work received 91 million dollars whereas the highest female artist’ work – Jenny Saville’s work received only 14% f that at 12,4 million dollars. Some other statistics if you are still unsure:

• An analysis of 18 major US art museums’ collections are 87% male and 85% white.
• When men sign a work the value increases compared to a painting that is unsigned, whereas when a woman signs a work of art, it’s value decreases.
• A bestselling art book – Gombirch’s Story of Art – mentions only one female visual artist in its 688 pages.
• Only 5% of the money generated from NFTs goes to female artists.

In a study done by researchers participants were split into two groups and shown the same artwork. They were asked to rate how much they like the artwork. The one half were shown a female artist’ name at the bottom of the work, the other group a male name. The results indicated that male artwork is preferred and that this is based on gender bias and not differing talent between male and female artists.

So why do we do it? Why would anyone choose this life of creating when the challenges are so evident? 17 artists are showing their work today –.Toni-Ann Ballenden, Mbali Tshabalala, Fathem Benath, Samantha Maseko, Ingrid Uys, Tanja Truscott, Carey Carter, Fatima Tayob Moosa, Margo Schopf, Karen Cullinan, Shelly-Ann Graham, Reneilwe Mathibe, Karin Basel, Lynette van Tonder, Patricia Jackson, Colleen Winter, and myself.

Each of these artists are sharing with you their thoughts, their ideas, and their perception of the world they are living in.  17 different stories, different styles, themes, approaches, and intentions.  17 different perspectives of our current reality. The process of allowing oneself the time and the space to reflect and to consider is such a gift – a gift every artist treasures. Artists are visual philosophers – trying to understand the meaning and purpose within this life we are given. Making is critical to meaning and, I am almost certain, you could ask any of the 17 artists toady and they would all express their absolute love and gratitude for the opportunity to share and explore their stories.

Herstory is an important story, Her story shows a different perspective of our times, of what matters to us and what we think about our society. Her story must be heard. This exhibition holds another level of importance for me – the artist that I met twenty years ago as a young graduate wanting to learn how to paint is now both a visual artist in her own right and the owner of Artyli Gallery. Our journey has been a long and adventurous one and I am happy to be exhibiting alongside her and at her gallery.

I end with thoughts from fellow artist – Jazz musician Titi Luzipo – from the panel discussion a few weeks back where she expressed her concerns about the excitement and focus on female artists during women’s month – she said (and I am paraphrasing) – what about the other 11 months, we are always thrilled to have lots of work during women’s month but female artists should be present, making a living and thriving all year round.

I ask that when you walk around and view all the artworks on exhibition today that you challenge your views, your assumptions and your societal perceptions – that you realise you – as a curator, art lover, art collector, or artist contribute to those assumptions and have the power to start shifting them.

Thank you, and I really hope you enjoy the show!