London’s Saatchi Gallery Has Opened First All-Women Art Exhibition
Perhaps best known for creating the careers of once niche artists like Tracey Emin and Paula Rego, the Saatchi Gallery in London celebrates its 30th anniversary with the first all-female exhibition called, “Champagne Life.”
Julia Wachtel’s Champagne Life. Photograph: Julie Wachtel/Saatchi Gallery
The exhibition opens on January 13th and will combine the work of 14 developing artists from around the world all ranging 20-50 years of age.
It is named from one of the featured works by American artist, Julia Wachtel.
Nigel Hurst, the gallery’s Chief Executive told The Guardian, “We’ve always supported the work of women artists over the years, many of those have gone on to have key roles in the contemporary art world, but I think there’s still a huge amount of work to be done…in terms of the number of women artists that are having their work exhibited and shown, there remains a glass ceiling that needs to be addressed.”
Currently, the highest price work by a female artist is $7.1 million, which was for a Yayoi Kusama painting. The most a male artist’s work was a Jeff Koons sculpture that sold for is $58.4 million.
Hurst continued, “The disparity is being redressed because of the number of women that are making contemporary art, but I still think, like a lot of industries, the art industry suffers from the fact that if you take a break from working it’s perceived that you’re maybe not as serious about your profession as you should be.”
“Women artists are no different to women everywhere, they have to juggle family commitments with their working practice. So I think they probably have to keep more plates spinning than their male counterparts,” Hurst concluded.
Julia Dault’s Untitled 19. Photograph: Saatchi Gallery
This is not the first of the Saatchi Gallery to celebrate women’s role in the world of art. In November of 2014, the VivaWomen! exhibition featuring female artists who “don’t play by the rules” and “refuse to be good girls.” The gallery’s exhibit ran with the slogan: “Because good is just not good enough.”
Champagne Life will run from from 13 January to 6 March 2016.