Last Thursday the Village Voice published Jerry Saltz's latest article indicting the art world for continuing to show a disproportionate number of male to female artists. One of the perks of the Internet now that most galleries have websites, is that their artist sections make these numbers more visible, (though a certain amount of fact checking is still required since names like Paddy Johnson are generally assumed to be male unless stated otherwise.) Representation of racial diversity however tends to be considerably less apparent on the web. We all know the number of minorities showing in major galleries and museums must be even more egregious than the ones that Saltz lays out for women and extend from the art world to the blogosphere.
It has to be said that if the most Women of Babylon manages to do is raise awareness and prompt a few links from bloggers, it hasn’t done the job the author wants it to. It is up to his audience not just to pick up this call to arms, but to read between the lines and work to correct a few of the problems he hasn't talked about. For bloggers/writers, curators, and gallerists this means making a point of more inclusive across the board, and on a larger scale, I think everyone needs to work on being a little more accepting of didactism in art. I know it sounds like a terrible drag, but I think we have it in us to stretch a little on the subject.
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