International Women's Day / 2020

Mika Sperling

needed explanation
because of the mystic nature of the theory
and our reliance on collective belief
I could not visualise the end
the tools that paved the way broke
the body the foundation the exact copy of the real
our surfaces were covered
our surfaces are all covered
actual hands appear but then there is writing
in the cave we were deeply impressed
as in addicted to results
oh and dedication training the idea of loss of life
in our work we call this emotion
how a poem enters into the world
there is nothing wrong with the instrument
as here I would raise my voice but
the human being and the world cannot be equated
aside from the question of whether or not we are alone
and other approaches to nothingness
(the term ‘subject’) (the term ‘only’)
also opinion and annihilation
(the body’s minutest sensation of time)
(the world, it is true, has not yet been destroyed)
intensification void
we are amazed
uselessness is the last form love takes
so liquid till the forgone conclusion
here we are, the forgone conclusion
so many messages transmitted they will never acquire meaning
do you remember my love my archive
touch me (here)
give birth to a single idea
touch where it does not lead to war
show me exact spot
climb the stairs
lie on the bed
have faith
nerves wearing only moonlight lie down
lie still patrol yr cage
be a phenomenon
at the bottom below the word
intention, lick past it
rip years
find the burning matter
love allows it (I think)
push past the freedom (smoke)
push past intelligence (smoke)
whelm sprawl
(favourite city) (god’s tiny voices)
hand over mouth
let light arrive
let the past strike us and go
drift undo
if it please the dawn
lean down
say hurt undo
in your mouth be pleased
where does it say
where does it say
this is the mother tongue
there is in my mouth a ladder
climb down
presence of world
impassable gap
pass
I am beside myself
you are inside me as history
We exist Meet me

–Jorie Graham / Underneath (13)

Founded over a hundred years ago evolving through various names and dates, this fulcrum of women’s rights, International Women’s Day, was adopted by the United Nations only in 1975 and still largely overlooked in many countries. And still, today, in board rooms and senate chambers, in court houses as in locker rooms, it feels we are living in highly primitive times.

Since Artpil’s founding, we covered the #MeToo movement, traced the Elimination of Violence Against Women and counted down to the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the sometimes overlooked World Day of Social Justice. These are all interconnected.

Still, today, in board rooms and senate chambers, in court houses as in locker rooms, it feels we are living in highly primitive times.

Often our better halves, and without whom we could not be, we renew our commitment to engage. Once again, we celebrate the women who have inspired and created in the art world.

Jocelyn Lee

Thirty Years of Women

This exhibit draws from Jackson Fine Art’s 30 year history of showing some of the most distinguished female voices in photography, illustrative of the gallery’s evolving vision through the years. Among the many artists include Berenice Abbott, Holly Andres, Diane Arbus, Jeannette Montgomery Barron, Lillian Bassman, Ruth Bernhard, Carolyn Carr, Lalla Essaydi, Sally Gall, Nan Goldin, Katy Grannan, Cig Harvey, Karen Knorr, Mona Kuhn, Dorothea Lange, Annie Leibovitz, Helen Levitt, Loretta Lux, Sally Mann, Dorothy Norman, Alex Prager, Meghann Riepenhoff, Vee Speers, Trine Søndergaard, Angela West, Marion Post Wolcott, among others. Curated by Jane Jackson & Anna Walker Skillman. On view through April 11, 2020 at Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Cig Harvey

Eating Flowers / Sensations of Cig Harvey

Spanning photography, video, mixed media and the written word, Cig Harvey’s creative practice explores physical and emotional boundaries of the senses with vividly colored images and seductive vocabulary. Presented at Ogunquit Museum of American Art.

Navjot Altaf

Samakaalik: Earth Democracy & Women’s Liberation

The exhibition of Navjot Altaf earlier this year at PAV Parco Arte Vivente) represented a new chapter in an investigation into the relationship between artistic practice and ecologist thinking, and reflected on the cultural sovereignty of indigenous populations. Curated by Marco Scotini.

Joanna Piotrowska

The tension is triggered in Joanna Piotrowska’s work by the reversibility of the situations, gestures and actions staged, the suspended moment of an encounter between two realities, condensed into images that are never univocal. Closed yesterday, March 7, 2020 at Galeria Madragoa, Lisbon.

Katy Moran

Katy Moran / Recent Paintings

Recently described as an “abstract painter of figurative mood,” Katy Moran enlists a wide scope of mark-making to conjure different atmospheres in each painting, every chosen surface being readymade. Presented at Modern Art, London, earlier this year.

Meyrem Bulucek

Elimination of Violence against Women

The U.N. General Assembly designated November 25th as International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and began the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, running to December 10, Human Rights Day. We featured some women artists who have inspired and created in the art world, including Analia Saban, Rineke Dijkstra, Sophia Al-Maria, Cig Harvey, Ornella Mazzola, Helen Cammock, and Senta Simond, among others.

Shubha Taparia

Spirit in the Inanimate

The works of Shubha Taparia recall x-rays or the photogram experiments of early 20th century pioneers. Much like a musical symphony, Taparia encourages the viewer to pause through visual harmonies and counterpoints. Presented this past summer at Prahlad Bubbar, London.

Gillian Laub

Southern Rites / Gillian Laub

This small town symbolized the archetype of pastoral American life. Yet this idyllic place was also held hostage by a dark past, manifesting in the racial tensions that scar much of American history. Gillian Laub / Southern Rites, Organized by ICP / International Center of Photography and curator Maya Benton. Various engagements through 2020.

Kiki Smith

Kiki Smith / Monnaie de Paris

Monnaie de Paris presented the first solo show of Kiki Smith in a French institution. Several pieces from 1980 through today were displayed in a two level exhibition that explored the different techniques, interests and ideals of the New York-based artist. Review by Ana Sonderéguer.

Lillian Birnbaum

Humanity in Photographs

The curiosity with which humans observe each other is insatiable. This exhibition brought this presumably universal characteristic into focus showcasing treasures of the Federal Photography Collection. Works by Lillian Birnbaum, Ana Hoffner, Sabine Jelinek, Ruth Kaaserer, Michaela Moscouw, Margot Pilz, Margherita Spiluttini, Nina Rike Springer, among others, presented at Museum der Moderne Salzburg.

Nan Goldin

Subjects of Life

This selection encouraged a reflection on the medium through questions of representation and the effects of the image on our perception of reality, notions of territory, and the represented subject. Nan Goldin was among those featured from the Mudam Collection, Mudam Luxembourg.

Helen Levitt

Observing New York’s Streets

Funny, incongruous, vibrant and resolutely human, these scenes out on the streets of New York put next to one another made up Helen Levitt’s pictorial oeuvre: a genuine witnessing of the urban effervescence. By Anna Prudhomme, Numèro. Helen Levitt at Les Rencontres d’Arles.

Sally Mann

Sally Mann: A Thousand Crossings

With many previously unpublished works, this travelling exhibition offered an overview of Sally Mann’s artistic achievement as well as a focused exploration on the continuing influence of the South on her work. Various dates and venues throughout 2019–2020.

Rachel Rose

In recent years Rachel Rose has quickly risen to prominence for her compelling video installations and films. This selective overview of Rose’s practice presented back in January at Fridericianum was comprised of five works focuses on moving images.

Lubaina Himid

Lubaina Himid: Work From Underneath

With larger historical narratives often as a driving force, Lubaina Himid’s works critique the consequences of colonialism and question the invisibility of people of color in the arts and the media. This exhibition was presented at New Museum, New York.

Hellen van Meene

The Bird in Borrowed Feathers

Echoing traditional Dutch paintings, Hellen van Meene’s photography presented at James Freeman Gallery found glimpses into intimate inner worlds and brought their fragility to light in ways that are sometimes surreal and unsettling.

Helen Cammock

What Can Be Done

These works by Helen Cammock interwove women’s stories of loss and resilience with 17th Century Baroque music by female composers, exploring lament in women’s lives across histories and geographies. Her works were presented at Collezione Maramotti earlier this year.

Nettle Grellier

Occupy Space as Equals

“I want to offer the viewer a new way of being in which we are at ease in each other’s presence…a sense of safety against the turbulence and disjointedness of society in today’s world.” –Nettle Grellier. Text by Daniel Milroy Maher published on It’s Nice That.

Analia Saban

Particle Theory / Analia Saban

Asking what the fundamental distinctions were between mediums, Analia Saban’s work dismantled the physical nature of materials and the basic premise of the medium to a near unconscious or particle level. Recently presented at Arario Gallery, Seoul.

Lise Sarfati

In The Next Door Room

The awakening of adolescence has been a recurring theme fascinating many artists; conflicts of identity, physical metamorphosis, psychological instability, emerging sexual and emotional sensations… Photography of Lise Sarfati; Text by Javier Panera Cuevas / Domus Artium Salamanca.

Rachel Jump

30 Under 30 Women Photographers

And of course, our very own 30 Under 30 Women Photographers now in its 11th edition with the 2020 group, this annual selection has helped emerging, mid-career, as well as some accomplished women photographers to gain further exposure and participate in the collective among peers. With styles ranging from art photography to documentary, portraiture to street and fashion, the works have been overwhelmingly well received.