Text and cover image by Kristine Urban.
So, where are the female painters? Is there a gender gap in the art world, too?
Throughout history, the field of painting has been widely dominated by men and the men before them. However, we now live in an era that is making strides towards refining that outdated narrative. Read on to discover young female painters who have made their mark in the world of art, challenging the status quo.
Female painters to be fan of, Issy Wood
“Things Issy Wood loves: 1. Painting. 2. Dogs that aren’t mine. 3. When my cacti produce flowers”, says a post from Issy Wood on her Instagram profile. Born in 1993, Issy is an American painter and musician living in London. Her work, which has sometimes been associated with Surrealism, explores intimacy and identity with a mix of contemporary objects that are evocative of classical painting, drawing imagery from her surroundings and incorporating snapshots taken with her phone.
She is also known for turning down the art dealer titan Larry Gagosian and his blue-chip gallery empire and for the deal she signed in 2019 with Mark Ronson, the music super producer for Lady Gaga and the late Amy Winehouse.
In an interview with cultural reporter and author Joe Coscarelli for the New York Times, Wood said, “Rich people don’t like being told no — most of them are men, and they especially don’t like being told no by women. It offends everything they’ve worked to attain”.
She has been paving her way with painting through irony and grit, her own brush painting stories of transformed mundanity and reality like a fuzzy blanket. She exists in a liminal space caught between realism and surrealism. It’s uncommon to see a female painter so committed to her vision and resistant to the industry’s demands.
Elly Smallwood, one our four favourite female painters
Through her style full of emotions and sexuality and her fluid brushstrokes, the young Canadian painter Elly Smallwood is a young painter who transforms form beyond the tactile realm, creating vivid and lustrous explorations of the human body in a variety of contexts.
She humanizes the body by transforming it into something transcendent, and the communication between colour and her subject is bold, evocative, and necessary. She reminds us that we, as we are, are a wellspring of almost innocent humanity.
Smallwood began painting in a highly intuitive manner and has since then blossomed into a talented artist, yet remaining dedicated to her style, subject matter, and message. Her website archives showcase her maturation as a painter over the years. Her work often features feminist undertones, portraying figurations in powerful and captivating ways.
Enigma, satire and vulnerability: she is Anna Weyant
Born in 1995, Anna Weyant is a young Canadian artist who is making waves in New York and beyond. She has been taking the art world by storm with her Botticelli-inspired approach to depicting her subjects, as well as her serene and minimalistic use of colours.
Her work draws inspiration from the Dutch golden age yet formed it into something entirely innovative and untapped. Weyant has become a noted figure in the art world for her impressive paintings that have sold for remarkably high prices. Sotheby’s auctioned one of her works for $1.6 million, starting from an initial estimate of $150,000 to $200,000, and it’s no surprise.
Weyant typically focuses on portraiture and still life, and, in an interview, she mentioned that working on both helps her maintain her sanity. Her rise to fame has been meteoric, and she is making bold strides in the art industry. As a young female painter, her technique is astounding and vastly captivating, with her thought-provoking stories carrying tones of enigma, satire and vulnerability.
Kudzanai-Violet Hwami, belonging and displacement and african roots
Born in Zimbabwe in 1993 and raised in South Africa from the age of 9 to 17, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami is a rising star in the art world who now lives in London. Her art has gained recognition globally, and she has exhibited her work in many places.
In 2019, she was featured at the 58th Venice Biennale and in 2016, she received the Young Achiever of the Year Award at the Zimbabwean International Women’s Awards, among other accolades. Her work explores themes of belonging and displacement, as well as using traditional African aesthetics in tandem with contemporary elements to add depth to the stories she tells.
Hwami’s portraiture often focuses on friends, family, and herself while evoking deep emotional resonance and handling every portrait with care and vibrancy. Her engaging work features rich colour palettes and canvases layered with meaning, and her story is inspiring as she continues to explore the complexities of the art world.
