PROMPT FOR THE ARTISTS:

Did you know that it is most likely that the earliest artistic works, Cave Paintings, were painted by women? And ancient Grecian Women worked alongside and equally with Grecian Men as they made pottery? For centuries, it was assumed that both of these were exclusively the domain of men — largely because the male gaze, for better or worse, is the common perspective through which we (regardless of gender identity or presentation) have interpreted the world for Millennia.  Women and other marginalized groups have been quietly working alongside their male peers for as long as art has existed.  These groups were also dominant in creations of fiber arts, glass making, woodworking and even metalsmithing – creations that until recently were relegated to works of craft.  All this to say, that the art world has always been rife with women’s work, even when it was not anecdotally obvious.

This is something on which we have been thinking a lot: the vastness of the reality versus the monolith of messaging.  We live in a world that can have ever-widening and intersectional perspectives on gender presentation, race, religion, sexuality, socio-economic status, etc,, and yet as a society it has been historically expedient to have a common view.  In this case (as noted above), it is the male gaze (more accurately the moneyed, cis-gendered, straight, white male gaze embedded in the Western world).

Regardless of how our personal identities and opinions align with each of these words, it is unconsciously the default language of the world in which each of us were raised.  So leaving aside the question of whether an ever expanding intersectional and opening world even needs a default view, we’d like to ask a simpler question (accepting as a given that the male gaze exists):

Shouldn’t we (of any lapping descriptors) be able to slip into other “gazes”, so to speak? And if we can, what if we all tried shifting our gazes simultaneously to an alternate gaze for this one show: The Female Gaze?

That is what this show is about: It is a show about taking one perspective (of the myriad) and using that as our lens.  As we mentioned, and as should be obvious here, the lens we are choosing is the female gaze.

That being said: This is not just a show for those identifying as women. This is a show for anyone interested in exploring the ever-widening perspectives that exist in our culture.  ANY PERSON is capable of putting themselves in the position of identifying with another’s humanity.  It’s part of what makes us great.  And when we can’t, it is one of the worst aspects of our species.

Want to do a deeper dive and delve into setting your lens to the Female Gaze? Caroline talked to the Robot-Overlord, ChatGPT, to see what that dumb lil’ copyright infringing nugget had to say:

SETTING THE LENS
Ask a Robot: ChatGPT, What is the Male Gaze?  And what Does the Female Gaze Mean?

LOOKING THROUGH THE LENS
A List of Recommendations by Caroline K and ChatGPT