A Archives W A of Women Artists R Research E & Exhibitions A W A R E Press kit Foreword 2 Let’s consider this for a minute: how many women artists are Camille Morineau, there, hiding behind the Great Masters of Art History? How co-founder and chairwoman of AWARE many were forgotten in favour of their male counterparts? Current, Paris-based, director of exhibitions and collections at the The few women artists we know of today have only just Monnaie de Paris, she has worked recently come to the public’s attention: Sonia Delaunay for twenty years in public cultural waited half a century to be brought out of the shadow of her institutions in France, ten of which husband Robert… Louise Bourgeois was 96 years old when the were at the Centre Pompidou as a curator of the contemporary musée national d’Art moderne – Centre Pompidou held its first collections. She has been the curator French retrospective of her work… Niki de Saint Phalle enjoyed of numerous exhibitions including a certain degree of fame during her lifetime, but mainly for her Yves Klein (2006), Gerhard Richter Nanas, despite the fact that her whole body of work was far (2012), Roy Lichtenstein (2013), and the hanging elles@centrepompidou more complex… Only in 2005 was Annette Messager the first (2009-2011) dedicated solely to female woman to be chosen to represent France at the Venice Biennale, artists from the collections of the also winning the Golden Lion prize that same year… musée national d’art moderne. She was Hundreds, thousands of women artists have sunken into also the curator of the comprehensive survey of Niki de Saint Phalle at oblivion simply because their work was neither shown, the Grand Palais in Paris and the acknowledged, celebrated in major exhibitions, nor officially Guggenheim Bilbao. rewarded. These are the reasons why I created AWARE: Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions in 2014, – so that we could rewrite art history from a more gender-equal perspective. It is high time we place women artists at the same level as their male counterparts by bringing their work into the spotlight. Camille Morineau Photo: MCC - Didier Plowy A few dates on the visibility of women artists in the 20th century 1 900 1 97 1 Less than 20% of solo exhibitions First studio for women opens at the Exhibition Where We At. Black Women between 2007 and 2014 were devoted École nationale supérieure des beaux- Artists. 1971 at Acts of Art Galleries in to women artists at MoMA and arts in France. New York. LACMA, and 30% at the Whitney Museum. European institutions 1 91 1 1 972 show similar numbers, with less Sculptress Lucienne Heuvelmans is Exhibition Womanhouse organised by than 20% at the Centre Pompidou the first woman to be awarded the Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro, and barely more at Tate Modern Grand Prix de Rome in art. co-founders of the Feminist Art London, according to the 2015 Program in CalArts, Los Angeles. 1 953 statistics published by Maura Reilly Exhibition Women in Art at the 1 982 in ARTnews. Houston Contemporary Art Museum First retrospective exhibition of (Texas). Louise Bourgeois at the Museum of Only twenty women in 2016 ranked Modern Art in New York. Her first among the artists with the highest 1 968 retrospective in France occurs only in worldwide visibility, according to British Bridget Riley is the first 2008 at the Centre Pompidou. Artindex rankings. woman to receive the Grand Prize at the Venice Biennale. 1 987 Opening of the National Museum of 1 97 1 Women in the Arts in Washington, Art historian Linda Nochlin writes DC. the founding article “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” in ARTnews. A WA R E PRESENTATION What is AWARE? 3 Works by women artists have seldom Backed by 4 programmes been shown, acquired and discussed Who are They ? throughout the 20th century despite The AWARE website them being an animating force, (awarewomenartists.com) is a particularly in the avant-gardes. It documentary platform in its own is precisely this lack of information right, complete with illustrated that makes the valorisation of their biographical presentations of work more difficult today. This artists, academic articles on ongoing observation, shared by many art research, exhibition reviews, and a historians and curators, is what led section listing current exhibitions Camille Morineau, on the initiative featuring women artists, updated Photo: Émile Ouroumov of the 100% women’s art exhibition daily. elles@centrepompidou held at the AWARE is a non-profit organisation Centre Pompidou in 2009-2010, to The creation of AWARE (Lab), a founded by 7 women from diverse create AWAR E . resource centre based in Paris, in backgrounds but all driven by the partnership with universities and same enthusiasm: Restoring the presence of the documentation centres of major Margot Mérimée Dufourcq 20th-century women artists modern and contemporary art LAW Y ER in the history of art museums, allows for the constitution Daphné Moreau Archives of Women Artists, Research of a documentary collection of digital LAW Y ER and Exhibitions is a non-profit publications and resources aimed at Camille Morineau organisation founded in 2014. consolidating information on women CURATOR Faced with the under-representation artists. of women in the art world, AWARE’s Elisabeth Pallas VIOLINIST aim is to balance out the presence of Let’s Talk about Them these women artists, these “forgotten In partnership with universities and Nathalie Rigal LAW Y ER figures of art history”, in order to museums, AWARE organises round improve their visibility through the tables, symposiums and study days Alexandra Vernier-Bogaert PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT sharing of free access resources. in France and abroad, including in The organisation promotes an countries where the condition of Julie Wolkenstein WRITER educational and professional women is precarious. approach through partnerships with universities and museums. Artists, Where are They? collectors, institutions, historians, AWARE organises museum visits to students and the general public discover women artists and their art. can use the archives to find the information they need about All about Them women artists of the 20th century. AWARE’s goal is to encourage the sharing of information on the works of women artists by way of printed publications intended for both the general and specialised public, particularly via the publication of a MOOK, a yearly magazine compiling articles from the web-magazine and previously unpublished articles, and the proceedings of the symposiums organised by AWARE every year A WA R E PRESENTATION AWARE: a few key figures 4 1 175 A committed specialist 175 biographical presentations at the head of the project: Camille Morineau of women artists published on the website, complete with exhibition reviews and a section listing the latest news 7 concerning women artists 7 female founding members from diverse backgrounds 3 3 permanent employees , and a team of volunteers 4000 from major European cultural An average of institutions and museums. 4,000 monthly visitors 16 1 6 Friends 5 of AWARE 5 round tables and symposiums organised in 2016-2017 and 3 symposiums and study days programmed for 2017-2018 1 A contemporary art award dedicated to women, with the exceptional support of the French Ministry of Culture A WA R E WHO ARE T HEY? A website and a documentation centre dedicated to 20th-century 5 women artists In order to give more visibility to AWARE’s website is paired with the 20th-century women artists and AWARE Lab documentation centre in rewrite a more gender-equal art Paris. AWARE Lab had compiled 800 history, AWARE works towards references – monographs, exhibition the promotion of resources and catalogues, essays, and reviews – on information on women artists around women artists, feminist art and the world, both in French theory. and English. The AWARE website (awarewomenartists.com) is a free- The documentation centre is access work tool which features the currently being developed with organisation’s latest news and gathers donations, exchanges, and information and collective initiatives acquisitions. on the subject. AWARE Lab is open to researchers and students from Monday to Friday. To make an appointment, please contact The site also highlights ongoing us at [email protected] exhibitions organised by museums in the Exhibitions section, updated The list of publications up for daily. The Magazine section offers consultation or exchange is available interviews, reports, articles written by on demand. researchers, and monthly exhibition reviews. Address: AWARE Lab, 110 boulevard Saint-Germain, 75006 Paris The site’s goal is to encourage and give visibility to research on Elles. Video recordings, symposium proceedings, and study days organised by AWARE are accessible to all online. The site is specifically designed as a digital resource centre featuring The site also enables the public to written, iconographic, and audiovisual follow the organisation’s initiatives contents. At the heart of the project, and news, including the Visites du it provides access to an index of 8 programmes, symposiums, study illustrated biographical presentations days, AWARE Prize, and regular of women artists in the field of visual updates on women artists! arts, from Camille Claudel to more recent creators. The interface offers a keyword research tool (by discipline, country, period, subject) and the possibility to link the artists to the great movements in art history. The organisation’s goal is to enrich the database with about 150 biographical presentations per year. A WA R E CALENDAR Past events 6 ROUND TABLE STUDY DAY 7 MARCH & 11 APRIL, 2014 | PARIS 25 FEBRUARY, 2017 | PARIS “Artistes femmes / femmes ingénieurs : “They create, collect, and support: une esthétique de la rareté” women and the arts since Antiquity” AT THE LAB OF THE GOOGLE CULTURAL AT THE CENTRE POMPIDOU INSTITUTE In partnership with the Mnémosyne Association, — for the development of the history of women and gender PRIZE — NOV.