At the Visual Arts Centre in September there was an exhibit, “Coming of Age” featuring three mature female artists, Mary Kainer, Ramune Luminaire, and Judith A. Mason. They were collectively exploring what being old means. Old age has meant fear for men but for women it can mean freedom. The Old Crone archetype of myth and legend wields substantial power. It is power that comes with wisdom, knowledge, comes of having lived and worked and shared the unwritten over the work. This sharing is explored in Toni Hamel’s exhibit “The Lingering” shown in 2015 “The Lingering” explored the role of the female as homemaker, simultaneously rejecting those homes as gilded cages and celebrating the creativity of the work done by the women.
The work of women does seem tilted towards the creative arts however. Although female artists are underrepresented in the 'HIS'tory of art, women are well represented in the management of galleries, at least here in Durham Region.
At every level whether private or public it is females who are at the helm, even at the municipal level; Oshawa’s CultureCounts department and its overseer, Parks and Recreation, are manned mostly by women. It makes for an odd situation; Females are in charge of the walls and stages yet females are underrepresented when it comes to shows and exhibits.
But something is changing. Female artists are missing from the canon yes but we are finding them, or rather they are finding us.
I took a walk a week or so ago, well a drive, to three Durham Region galleries and what I saw was capital W Work, the getting on with the Work, the doing.
Ingrid Ruthig’s solo show Re/Visions at the Station Gallery is a massive engagement for the eye and mind. One is struck immediately by the volume of work. 120 portraits of 120 ladies, each woven from images and text. It is not something absorbed in a glance. These portraits are not icons, cartoons. It is architectural, sculptural, it is deep thoughtfulness and one can see perhaps it is the work of it which is at the centre of it. Not art for art’s sake but work for art’s sake.