Feature Review
Art World: Male Domain Including an Interview with Rhi Bryce, Street Artist of the Vibrance Festival Maddie Burrows
Feature
In the beginning, ‘man’ created art. Man made the first art as soon as he made his first line drawing on the caves and rock walls of Africa, over 2000 years ago. Art began well before civilised society. But what is often forgotten is that since man could lift his hand to paint, there have been women doing the same. Gender has been a hot topic in the artsphere for decades, with feminist artists from across the globe speaking up to diminish inequality, judgment, and stereotyping of women in the arts. Recognisable names of the 20th century such as Frida Kahlo, Cindy Sherman, Miriam Schapiro and Barbara Kruger brought the conversation to the forefront of the art world with their work. Well before the height of the feminist art movement in the 1970s, female artists have been fighting for change. Regrettably, despite the uprise of feminist artists and support for women, there have not been drastic improvements in gender equality in the arts. This issue became relevant in Hobart this year, during the Vibrance street art festival in February. Bidencopes Lane in Hobart’s inner-city was brought to life in colour for the Vibrance street art festival. Vibrance celebrates Tasmanian Street art and culture, bringing together local artists with artists from Australia and beyond. The festival was a huge success, drawing in hundreds of members from the public to the artsphere. Vibrance was to be a celebration of diversity in street art and culture, yet there was an underlying inequality with regards to gender. Of the approximation of 20 artists featured at Vibrance, only six were female. This is less than 30%. Rhi Bryce, a 22-year-old Fine Arts student at the University of Tasmania, was one of these female artists. Throughout the weeklong festival, Rhi produced a quirky, family friendly, illustrative mural piece titled Be Cool Honey Bunny. During the festival, Rhi was subject to a number of incidences where she felt less valuable than the male participants. What was it like working at Vibrance alongside so many male artists? I was so excited to be a part of Vibrance and to work among other Tasmanian artists such as Tom O’Hern, Aedan Howlett and Jamin, however I did feel as though I was stepping into a male domain. The walls surrounding me certainly felt like “male turf.”
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