March is Women’s History Month, a time to draw attention to the contributions that half the world’s population has made to everything from mathematics and agriculture to history and artistic expression.
Frida Kahlo's Dos Mujeres (Salvadora y Herminia), 1928, was acquired by the MFA in December 2015
13FOREST Gallery is glad to be situated in a metropolitan area abundant with women in all of the arts. Though oftentimes underrepresented in museum collections and auction catalogues, works by contemporary female artists are among the most innovative of paintings, sculpture, prints, ceramics and jewelry in Boston and across the United States. As recognition of such gender imbalance gains more and more attention—nationally as well as globally—the conversation surrounding feminist art and work by female artists continues to broaden. Notably, the Hirshhorn Museum, the Whitney Museum and the Tate Modern will all open major exhibitions in 2016 focused on groundbreaking female artists. Early this year, Boston’s own Museum of Fine Arts made history with its acquisition of Frida Kahlo’s Dos Mujeres (Salvadora y Herminia), now the first work by the artist to belong to a permanent museum collection in New England.
Yet the fight for greater recognition for women artists remains precisely that—a fight. In participation with the National Museum of Women in the Arts’ online campaign to combat the common inability to name even five women artists, 13FOREST Gallery has been highlighting our female artists all month long on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtags #5WomenArtists and #WomensHistoryMonth.
We are proud to carry the work of more than 60 women artists from throughout New England, who represent a diverse range of techniques and aesthetics, but share common ground in the outstanding quality of their artistic creations. Yes, we encourage you to spend some time perusing their individual pages on our website or to visit the gallery and see their work in person, but also remember to trek along the Boston Women’s Heritage Trail, open your eyes to evolving collections in museums and other galleries, or simply acknowledge that woman playing the guitar at your train stop.
-Jim Kiely, Owner
Jillian Wertheim, Gallery Director