A Flower Party farewell, misogyny in art school, and why competition among artists is pointless.
A Flower Party farewell, misogyny in art school, and why competition among artists is pointless.
'I'm not interested in competing with anyone, I hope we all make it.' - Erica Cook
The Flower Party is wrapping up a long colorful season with two new paintings.
‘The Flower Dreams of Summer’
Late one night, the flower fell into a long colorful dream. In the dream, the flower went on a journey through the growth and vibrant energies of summer, which was the flower’s favorite season of all. It felt so real, the flower could feel everything it loved about the season of blooming and creating. So much to do and see, everywhere the flower went, new growth was bursting out all around.
When the flower awoke, it felt wonderful. The dream was still present, and the flower could feel the sun on its face, its roots in the earth, the wind and rain and visits from friends. But it was time to rest and dream a bit, and to prepare for a new season.
From the 'Flower Party' series of paintings. $145.00, Purchase this painting.
‘Royal Visit’
The royal blue and purple flower family arrived, ready to sit and enjoy a late summer evening. You can tell they are related, their hues are all so similar, though each is distinctly different if you look closely. They are quiet, at ease within their own beauty, and ready to swap stories with us about all of the adventures we’ve enjoyed this year.
This group really knows how to enjoy the moment, they are so very present. It’s a calming feeling to enjoy their company.
From the 'Flower Party' series of paintings. $145.00, Purchase this painting.
Essay: Misogyny in Art School
It's always so much fun to see previously unknown women artists being 'discovered', (especially after they're dead!), after being taught in my art history classes that they never existed.
I’ve been a feminist since I was a young teenager because I was smart, and could see the disparity in how my brothers (and all the other boys) were raised and treated, and how all of the girls were being raised and treated.
This made me distrust and dislike the Catholic Church from a very young age, which I instinctively knew from that very young age had a whole helluva lot to do with this disparity, at least in my neighborhood. A born heretic, I refused to be convinced to think like everyone else about church, god, rules, and women’s roles. I am sure I have at least a few past lives as a disgruntled nun who set shit on fire.
I’m writing about the misogyny that I, along with countless other students of all genders, experienced in art school.
I believe that a lack of representation is repression, because it programs everyone for generations to come to accept the absence of certain groups as normal. This includes gender inequality, racism and ‘other-ism’, homophobia, religious persecution, and all the rest. Being made invisible is being repressed.
As I’ve been updating myself as an artist into present time, my art school days have been resurfacing in a few interesting ways, including art school misogyny. I know this is coming up so I can finish with it and release old resentments and stuck energies, and be here now.
Since I earned my BFA in 1982 from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, things have improved somewhat, in terms of representation in the arts. Time marches on and the old white guys who’ve held control forever over the narrative about what is art and who are the real artists, finally die off, leaving a bit more breathing room for everyone else. It’s easier than ever to choose to create, call yourself an artist, and express yourself, even if an old white guy didn’t deem you worthy of doing so.
But there’s a lot to deprogram, decolonize, and heal from.
We are learning how to tell new stories, and create new imagery that is outside of the same same patriarchal, racist, capitalist, and art market superstar narratives.
When I was in art school, students had to pass 6 art history classes, or 18 hours of art history minimum, to earn a BFA. Like many art schools, SAIC used the giant Janson’s History of Art, which was considered the bible of art history. And from 1976-1982, the years I studied at a school that was considered a great art school, not one woman artist was featured in that entire book. FFS. Apparently, ‘art history’ meant ‘European male artists’. Others need not apply.
There were no female artists in the Janson book at all until 1986. Nineteen freaking eighty six.
I graduated from SAIC in 1982, before Janson included anyone who looked like me as an artist, rather than a subject. The Janson book I was supposed to learn from had plenty of women, but they were all painted or sculpted by male artists, and a lot of them were naked.
Cue: 19 year old me, really pissed off to discover that the giant 10 pound book I have to buy for my art history class has not one female artist in it, coming up with a brilliant idea. I pitch it to my male art history teacher, who has just announced that the way he is teaching this class is that we have to read every single chapter and write a synopsis on each chapter. How mediocre of him. So my pitch was this: he would agree to give me credit for NOT doing all of that, but instead do a lot of research, reading, and write papers, on female artists. My idea was so exciting for me, how could he refuse?!
He didn’t think that women were capable of being artists worthy enough to be taught about in an art school, so no go.
So, I ended up failing that class. Being stubborn as I was, I was not going to cave and do all of this stupid non learning. If I’d been wiser, or told someone who could help me, or if they’d existed - it was 1977 and not exactly enlightened times (except that Roe was law for 4 years already, hallelujah!), I might have rallied support for my cause. I didn’t know I could have support with this. Who would listen, this was the Art Establishment, and they were telling me I was never going to be an artist worth writing about, because I was not capable of it, being female.
Happily, I had amazing teachers at that same school, lots of them women, most of them feminists. They had been through this themselves, and responded by self educating, and teaching others. They directed me to books and history that male teachers, simply didn’t.
After this whole art history fiasco happened, a giant blessing and answer to a wish came in the form of an MFA student teacher at SAIC. This young woman created and taught a brilliant feminist writing and theory class, and taught about women artists. Besides being a creative and thoughtful teacher, she was also an artist, a photographer who created wonderful work. I loved her classes, they were so much fun, and validating too. Studying this topic helped me start to see myself in a new way in the art world.
I was never against learning about male artists, I just wanted to be represented. I wanted to know about the artists who were not being taught as being the Great Artists. And who gets to decide who is a Great Artist anyway?
In researching this essay, I learned about Kristen Stolle, who deconstructed the Janson book, highlighting the sexist language and lack of women artists. She wrote that the Janson book didn’t include a single woman artist until 1986, with the current printing including 45 women, and only 7 women of color. The original book weighed in at a hefty 10 pounds. Removing the men brought in down to 2+ pounds. Check out her project.
I believe most competition is ridiculous, pointless, and needlessly programmed into all of us from Day 1.
Competition is not the best, only, and even most efficient way of doing things. We are all programmed with the Darwinian ideology of Survival of the fittest. Whatever Darwin’s full intent or idea was with this, humans have taken it to mean we need to compete with each other to survive.
This seems pointless and wasteful on a planet populated by so many different kinds of humans, each of us spirit in human form, as well as the spirit present in the earth and every creature on it. Spiritual competition is a pointless waste of time, and we have now driven ourselves to a point on our shared earth where we need to work together if we are to survive as a species on this planet.
Fun healthy competition isn’t wrong, not at all. But when it’s relentless, and so completely tied into capitalism, authoritarianism, and the demands that winner take all, it’s really unhealthy.
As artists, comparing ourselves with other artists is pointless. That doesn’t mean we don’t all do it, or find ourselves going there, even with the best of intentions. If I find myself comparing my work to another artist’s work and feeling bad about my own, I remind myself to instead listen and appreciate the way that someone else has mastered their craft. That’s my own insecurity to become aware of, and release. I am the one in competition, and in that scenario I will always lose.
Entering juried art competitions can be really fun and helpful. It’s great to have others see your work, and to put it out there, possibly winning some accolades and validation for all of that hard work. But if you judge your worth as an artist only by what others think or say, you’ll be stuck.
‘Creativity is not a competition, it is a connection.’ -Unknown
New podcast episode
Inspiration to deprogram out a lack of representation
Katy Hessel is one of many authors and artists who are writing the history of art the way it needs to be told. Read this book.
Article on artnet:
Perceptions of Progress in the Art World Are Largely a Myth. Here Are the Facts
Here are 14 bracing facts about representation in the art world today. Read this article.
By the time I heard about Jann Wenner they had already removed him from the board of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It makes me happy when I see people taking action to remove prejudice and toxic perspectives. I know we hear a lot about "cancel culture" but I think that is often a phrase that means I don't want to experience any consequences for the actions I take. I am glad some people in power want to support an inclusive world. ; )
Once again you have dug deep and shared so many interesting things! I am reminded of the Guerilla Girls and how their presence at museum openings was such a cool way to highlight the lack of representation at the curator level. We've been existing in these white-male-dominated systems for so long it's hard to break through the prejudice...or even just the ingrained bias.
A few days ago I read a comment about Kamala Harris that included my least favorite phrase "...I just don't like her." No facts or justification included but we "just don't like <fill in the blank>" is what we say when we can't own up to how we continue to suppress other voices, other gazes and perspectives. All very timely when you think about the Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner commenting that women and POC rock stars were not "articulate" enough to be included in his book on the philosophy of rock. I wonder if he ever asked women/POC artists the same questions as the white, male stars he thinks deserve to have their ideas embraced?
The last decade has opened my eyes to so many things I felt but could never articulate. I feel lucky to have so many smart people speaking out and working to build a new story where artists of all types can belong. But I don't see a perfect solution by any means. I believe in the freedom of speech but can't tolerate hate speech. How do we allow for that?
By the way, that teacher who wouldn't allow you to research women artists- not a teacher at all but rather someone who was following the same curriculum they always had. Regurgitating history doesn't make you an good artist. So cool you had the impulse to follow your passion - that's the spark to move you forward in the world. OXOX