Women Artists

I was in the bookstore the other day, in the Art History section, and picked up a book called Women Artists by Margaret Barlow. There are so many names in there that are completely unfamiliar to me, and it struck me how odd it is that in 2009 we still need to have a book devoted to this subject. Imagine how funny it would seem to publish a book called Male Artists.

What is the reason for the lack of awareness of female artists? Director Pamela Tanner Boll explores this subject in the film Who Does She Think She Is?, a film which I have yet to see but is on my must-watch list. The trailer quotes a man saying that art schools have a student body that is 70% female, yet in the gallery system, about 70% of the exhibitions are of male artists.

At my gallery, I never considered a person's gender when selecting their work for a show, and as it happens, I have an almost equal split of male/female artists in my roster.

I want to hear from you - do you feel that it is harder for a female artist to be taken seriously? What are the barriers? What can we do to change the system, either as institutions or galleries or audiences?