What does it mean to paint like a girl?
For the six artists in this show, 'to paint like a girl' evokes a wide variety of ideas and feelings. For some, it means painting with passion, freedom and embodied energy. For some, it means allowing the myriad shades of emotion that colour their individual lived experiences to manifest in their work. For others, it means turning stereotypes about women being emotional and intuitive upside-down by approaching painting in a cool, logical and rational way. For all, it means leaning into the creative process and not being afraid to fail. To paint like a girl means finding one's individual voice and expressing it fearlessly.
2023 marks 130 years since women gained the right to vote in Aotearoa. 2023 is also the year of Gretta Gerwig’s Barbie shining all the floodlights in Hollywood on the deeply entrenched patriarchal ideas that impact all of us - not just women. 130 years on, we still have a long way to go before true equality is achieved. Taking a political stance was not the initial intention of this show, and none of the artists consider themselves to be painters of an overtly political bent. However, to exist as a historically underrepresented and overlooked demographic will always be political and play into the reading of one's work. In 2023, to paint like a girl represents a powerful, necessary act.
Paint Like a Girl is a show for everyone who has ever been told that who they are, what they do, or how they do it wasn’t quite good enough. We’re here to tell you they were wrong.
Artists exhibiting:
- Amy Potenger
- Ekaterina Dimieva
- Kiran McKinnon
- Kirsten Roberts
- Loren Marks
- Rebecca Allcock
Proudly supported by Artfull, Broker Galleries, The Tuesday Club and Heart of the City.
Part of ArtWeek in the City Centre 2023.
$2 per hour to a max of $12 on weekends and a $12 flat rate for weekday evenings at The Civic car park. Find out more.