Status Update

Gender bias has been the invisible code defining art acquisitions in India but change is afoot. Vogue examines how and why women artists need to become a part of the collectors’ conversation.

- Blessy Augustine

In 1987, artists Nalini Malani, Arpita Singh, Madhvi Parekh and Nilima Sheikh exhibited their work in India’s first women-only art show, titled Through The Looking Glass, back then a revolutionary idea. Today, exhibitions focused on women are part of regular programming but the idea of defining one’s collection with art by women is treated with suspicion. This has much to do with the problematic category of “women artists.” On the one hand, it is reasonable to say that women’s experiences differ from that of men and, hence, so does the art they make. But unlike categories such as “young” or “Indian” that depend solely on one’s age or place of birth, being a woman artist is about more than being female. It is often burdened with the stigma that the “woman artist” does not meet the standard of being just an “artist.” Even those who berate the fact that the playing field is not level are ambivalent towards the categorisation, falsely believing it to be an admission of weakness. Industry experts tell us how the label can be embraced, and why collecting women artists should become part of the larger dialogue on acquiring art.

NUMBERS DON’T LIE