Origin'elle

A Pompeian fresco depicting a woman painting was the first indisputable evidence of female artistic activity. We have to go back to the dawn of the 17th century in Italy to meet the first recognised female artist, Artemisia Gentileschi, who broke all the laws of society by belonging only to her art and earning her living through her brushes. In the majority of cultural systems, the creativity of the female artist was akin to craftsmanship, for example: embroiderers, upholsterers, and seamstresses. She was often portrayed on canvas as a muse and rarely as the author of a work. The birth of photography in the middle of the 19th century gradually initiated the emergence of amateur and professional female photographers and reduced the gap in social status between male and female artists. Art and craft schools along with professions linked to the art market, such as historians, critics, journalists, etc., consolidated this evolution and gave birth in the 20th century to the affirmation of egalitarianism. However, the existence of women in the shadows, such as Elaine De Kooning, Camille Claudel, Anna Eva Bergman, and Dora Maar, continued throughout the 20th century. It is by the strength of their commitment and sometimes at the price of their marginalisation that they opened the doors to female artists such as Sonia Delaunay, Frida Kahlo, Niki de Saint Phalle, Joan Mitchell, Louise Bourgeois, Joana Vasconcelos, etc., who today are among the major figures of contemporary art. This exhibition presents a selection of women artists in the field of digital art. They are today the figures of tomorrow's contemporary art.