From Sylvia Sleigh to the Guerrilla Girls: When Women Expose Men and Art History's Codes

Two exhibitions at Geneva's Musée Rath, presented by Mamco, offer vibrant and rebellious artistic perspectives, challenging the traditional art historical narrative. The first showcases the work of Sylvia Sleigh, an Anglo-American painter active from 1916 to 2010. Sleigh used painting to subvert art history's codes, imposing her female artist's perspective onto her subjects. She depicted her friends and acquaintances, often including their nude male bodies.

The second exhibition, titled "Refaire collection" (Remake Collection), opens with a powerful installation by the Guerrilla Girls. This collective confronts viewers with giant letters asking, "Are they more naked women than women artists in art museums?" Mamco's response to this question, in its dual exhibition at the Musée Rath curated by Elisabeth Jobin and Lionel Bovier, is to deliberately feature only women artists, alongside numerous male nudes.

This provocative approach begins with 35 paintings by Sylvia Sleigh from the 1960s and 1970s, many sourced from American institutions and collections. The exhibition then extends to explore other female artists, creating a dialogue that questions established canons and highlights the underrepresentation of women in art history. The collection aims to provoke thought and celebrate artistic rebellion.

The "Refaire collection" exhibition, in particular, constructs an ideal collection from a female perspective. It features a diverse range of works by women artists, deliberately juxtaposed with male nudes, echoing Sleigh's own artistic practice. This curatorial choice serves as a direct commentary on the historical biases within art institutions and the art market, inviting a re-evaluation of artistic legacies and the power structures that have shaped them.

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Are they more naked women than women artists in art museums?