Gender and art

Leonora Carrington, Sanctuary for Furies, 1974.

"Whether intentional or not Wendi Norris curates contemporary artists who are leading the art world, and most of these powerful, talented and captivating artists are women. Every year I look forward to Gallery Wendi Norris’ exhibition schedule. And, I’ve never been disappointed, but this year the exhibitions are exceptional. On April 3 Gallery Wendi Norris will open Leonora Carrington: The Celtic Surrealist and Ana Teresa Fernandez: Foreign Bodies. Both exhibitions will run through May 31st."

Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco

http://www.gallerywendinorris.com/calendar.php?view=upcoming

"LONDON — She was called the enfant terrible of Surrealism. She was immortalized in some of Man Ray’s best photographs. Her well-known “Object” (1936) is considered one of the most important surrealist works.

This year is the centenary of Meret Oppenheim’s birth. To mark the occasion, the Bank Austria Forum, Vienna, and the Martin Gropious Bau, Berlin, organized what they described as the most comprehensive retrospective of her work ever. (The exhibition will travel to the Métropole Musée d’art moderne, d’art contemporain et d’art brut, Lille, next February). Other exhibitions were held at the Sprengel Museum, Hannover, and at the Kunstmuseum, Bern, not to mention talks and special events dedicated to her all over Europe. I contacted her niece, Lisa Wenger, to talk about Oppenheim’s work and life. The following is an edited transcript of our conversation."

"Untitled (Hand and Shell)," 1934, by Dora Maar.

Palazzo Fortuny, the former Venetian studio of the artist Mariano Fortuny, hosts an exhibition of women artists that highlights Dora Maar, the Surrealist and Picasso muse.

Maar is joined by three contemporary artists — the Norwegian painter Anne-Karin Furunes, the Japanese glass artist Ritsue Mishima and the Venetian jewelry maker Barbara Paganin. Their work shows alongside “Amazons of Photography,” a display on the Palazzo’s ground floor of works by women photographers from the 1860s to the present day, from the collection of Mario Trevisan. All of the exhibitions will be there through July 14.

http://fortuny.visitmuve.it/en/home/

Leonor Fini, Hermès, 1932.

"Leonor Fini (1907-1996) was a recognised artist and personality in Europe's cultural life in the middle years of the 20th century. Her work challenged conventional ideas through questioning the frontiers between female and male, myth and reality, the conscious and unconscious. Fini demonstratively followed her own path and her work is characterised by a radical, consequential and individual approach. She moved in Surrealist circles and participated in the movement's exhibitions while as she distanced herself from the group's flag bearer André Breton and his domineering attitude.

Leonor Fini's many-sided oeuvre is now presented for the first time in the Nordic countries. The exhibition includes paintings, drawings, book illustrations, objects, text, film and costume sketches for the theatre and opera."

Leonor Fini. Pourquoi pas?

Bildmuseet, Umea, Sweden

January 31–May 11, 2014

Leonora Carrington, Ulu's Pants, 1952.

The first major retrospective of Leonora Carrington's work in Ireland, this iconic exhibition is a timely rediscovery of this Surrealist painter and her role in the Surrealist art movement. Carrington is known for her figurative dreamscapes filled with extraordinary and complex narratives informed by her rich interest in mythology, alchemy, fairy tales and the occult. Leonora Carrington The Celtic Surrealist comprises some 50 paintings, eight sculptures, eight tapestries, and 20 works on paper from the 1940s onwards, holds a particular focus on the imagery that enchanted her as a child and on the cultural influences of Mexico.

Leonora Carrington: The Celtic Surrealist

18 September 2013 - 26 January 2014, Admission Free Garden Galleries, Iirish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin 8

Find out more on Leonora Carrington

http://www.leocarrington.com/