[S P OT LIGH T] A R T C U R A T O R
Women Painting Women
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Because female pioneers of figurative painting fearlessly protested in front of art museums and advocated for female representation of the female body, we now get to experience pieces of art like Alice Neel’s “Pregnant Nude, 1967,” with a “realness that is too profound to be sexy,” according to a press release by the museum. “It’s not a political exhibition, but it seems like the personal is political, and representation is always political,” Andrea says. “It seemed like a good moment to recognize issues of race Arpita Singh My Mother, 1993 Oil on canvas 54 x 72 inches From the Collection of Sharad and Mahinder Tak © Arpita Singh Photo courtesy Kiran Nadar Museum of Art and Talwar Gallery
and gender. You know, even the term ‘woman’ right now is being contested and taken out of its binary terms and opening up to be more inclusive to those who are femme-identifying.” Several women were underrecognized in the canon of art history, which was doubled for women of color. With portraiture being a medium so accessible to view compared to other things that might feel intimidating in a museum, Andrea felt the time was right to celebrate women artists.
