Many women and other minorities have begun to rebrand their art. They add a “feminist” or “womanist” or “queer” perspective to art and literature, claiming that art from these perspectives is more accurate, powerful, and truthful.

The problem with this rebranding is that it undermines the legitimacy of female artists. A white male artist can paint a nude woman and be celebrated for his technical skill, but an artist of any other race or gender cannot paint a nude figure without the art being labeled “sexist” or “racist.”

This forces women and other minorities to make a choice between being recognized as artists or being recognized as feminists. If they want to be recognized as artists, they must silence their feminist voices in their work. If they want to be recognized as feminists, they must silence their artistic voices. The result is an art world where only white male artists can create freely, while everyone else must choose between labels.

This creates a hierarchy between races and genders in the art world, where white men are at the top and black women are at the bottom. It is not equality; it is oppression of black women by both white men and white women.

The question is not whether this oppression exists; it does. The question

I am a feminist artist who works in a male dominated field. I’ve been told that I need to rebrand my work so that it’s more marketable.

I want to know what you think about this idea. Is it legitimate or not? Why or why not?

Contemporary art is largely defined by the attitudes and actions of male (mostly white) artists, curators, and patrons. This makes it harder for women, minorities, people with disabilities, and members of other marginalized groups to get their work into museums and galleries. 

As a result, they have created their own networks of support, which provide opportunities to show, sell, and buy art outside traditional channels. These networks are the topic of this blog.

We will post articles that feature interviews with women and minority artists who challenge stereotypes about their work; news about exhibitions; and links to events where you can see or hear these artists talk about what they do. We hope that by doing this we can help change how people see art made by women and minorities.

This series is going to be devoted to the question of how women, trans and genderqueer artists can successfully present their artwork in a market-driven world. I will discuss the problems within the art world, but I also want to look back at what brought us here and forward at how we might address these issues.

A lot has been said about the problem of sexism in the art world, but what’s really needed is a solution. And at this point, it’s my belief that there are a lot more artists and writers than there are curators and critics out there, so I’m hoping to collect a bunch of ideas about how we can make this change happen.

It’s important to remember that just because there is a problem with sexist attitudes doesn’t mean all people in the art world are sexist. It’s not just that they’re not listening to women or including them; they may not even be aware that their work environment is hostile or unwelcoming to women. The problem is not necessarily evil malice on the part of individual people or organizations; sometimes it’s simply lack of awareness. I think if we can spread awareness, then the people who would like to be on our side will rally behind us and make things better.

I was raised in a pretty traditional way, in that my mother always took care of the house, and my father always worked. I didn’t realize until later on that this was an unusual upbringing. When I was coming up, my father used to go play golf every single day, and I didn’t realize that this was unusual.

I had a babysitter come over because my parents were working, but I think it was more to give me someone to play with than because they wanted to go out by themselves. They never even went away for the weekend, ever. My father would say, “We have all these kids here; why would we want to be someplace else?” People would talk about getting away from it all and he’d say, “But where do you want to go?” He never understood that concept.

The same thing is true in terms of the art world. The art world is made up of very different kinds of people who don’t necessarily perceive each other as being part of the same community and certainly don’t interact with each other.

I had an experience at an opening where this older man came up to me and started talking about a project I’d done where I got women who were really into sports together with women who are really into

I was recently asked to contribute artwork for a feminist zine that is looking for submissions.  I was excited to be asked and responded to the request with enthusiasm. I don’t think it’s a secret that feminism is not my cup of tea, and the idea of being involved in a project that promotes women in art seemed like an opportunity to learn and grow.

When the artist behind the project got back to me, she made it clear that she wanted submissions from women only. I’m not sure why this information was withheld until after I had submitted my work, but I was not pleased. 

I do understand that such segregation is normal, but it’s just not my thing. 

It’s been difficult to find a balance between being honest about where my feelings lie without letting them get in the way of my work. The fact that feminists are so interested in having me on board is kind of flattering, and makes me feel like it might have some value somehow.  The truth is, though, I do know what feminism is about, which is encouraging women to come out into the world and be strong and independent instead of taking on the traditional roles of wife and mother that society has set out for them.