What does female representation look like at the top galleries in the city? Mostly, terrible, according to Pussy Galore’s latest report card. The report follows up on The Guerrilla Girl’s 1986 and several reports made by Brainstormers in the aughts.
Let’s go through the results and do a little comparing:
According to Pussy Galore, Tony Shafrazi ranks the lowest at just five percent, followed by Marlborough at seven. Shafrazi’s number’s actually look better than they did five years ago; he gained a percentage point, whereas Marlborough has fallen from 17 percent women to just 7. Sperone Westwater also has little to no dedication to furthering the role of women artists; in 2010 they represented 12 percent women, and that’s now fallen to nine percent.
There’s not much joy in these numbers, but some pleasure can be found in the few galleries working towards greater parity. Gallery Lelong takes the lead with a whopping 64 percent representation of female artists. Zach Feuer represents 59 percent, Sikkema Jenkins 52 and Jack Shainman 47. Brainstormers didn’t compile the numbers for all these galleries—mostly they focused on the poor performers—but from these reports, we know Shainman has made great leaps over the last five years, as previously he was at only 20 percent representation.
So applause those galleries who are actively working to produce more diverse programming. These are the true leaders in our field. Hat tip: Maura Reilly