5 Distinguished Women in Contemporary Art

Men dominated the art world especially during the early years and women artists found it hard to infiltrate this gender-biased world. Women found it hard to get training, education, travel, and exposure for their art works until the creation of the Feminist art movement in the 1960s. This movement encouraged women to participate in creating art which reflects the lives and experiences of women. It allowed women to express themselves through painting, sculptures, photography, and other art forms.

1. Bracha L. Ettinger. Bracha Ettinger is an international artist based in Paris and Tel Aviv. She is considered to be one of the most celebrated artists in the French and Israeli art scenes. She had several series of oil paintings such as “Matrix — Family Album,” “Autistwork,” and “Eurydice.” These paintings reflect Ettinger’s questions on personal trauma, womanhood, World Wars, and beauty. Since 2001, she became one of the most influential painters in the movement called New European Painting.

2. Marlene Dumas. Marlene Dumas is a South African born painter now based in The Netherlands. The subject of most of her paintings is of the human body, used to challenge ideas of racial, sexual, and social identity. Her artworks have been showcased in different prominent museums and galleries in European cities including in London, Berlin, Basel, and Amsterdam. In 2011, she received the Rolf Schock Prize in the Visual Arts award.

3. Chantal Joffe. Chantal Joffe is an English artist known for her large-scale paintings portraying women and children. Her works have been featured in solo and group exhibitions in Paris, New York, London, and Milan. She is the recipient of many awards including the illustrious Charles Wollaston Award in 2006.

4. Yayoi Kusama. Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese avant-garde artist. She uses different art forms including painting, drawing, sculpture, and installations. She started to paint using polka dots and nets when she was young. Kusama created series of paintings, including large-scale ones, with canvases measuring more than 30 ft. long. She was the first Japanese woman to receive the Praemium Imperiale, one of Japan’s most distinguished prizes given to highly esteemed artists.

5. Georgia O’Keeffe. Georgia O’Keeffe was a famous American Painter known for her large-format paintings of natural forms at close range. She created several paintings of New York City buildings including the “City Night,” and “Radiator Bldg.”  In 1928, a potential sale of six of her calla lily paintings grabbed the attention of the media but the sale did not push through.

Image source: www.wikipedia.org