Different, Better, and Rebellious: Women Artists in Three Contemporary Art Exhibitions in Argentina

Abstract

This article analyses three all-women exhibitions in the contemporary art scene in Buenos Aires, where feminist studies in art history are still thin on the ground. I will focus on Femenino plural (Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, 1998), Autorretrato (Centro Cultural Recoleta, 2001) and Argentinas. Muestra multidisciplinaria de la mujer (Centro Cultural Borges, 2009). offer a careful reading of these relevant shows, which featured a rather large group of women artists and were reviewed by prominent art critics. While they shared some qualities, above all the explicit intention of showcasing the work of women, these exhibitions showed various degrees of familiarity with the feminist interrogation to art history and presented different understandings of female genealogies in art. I argue they deployed three main variants of the vast concept of "women artists": as a political category, as a site of difference, and finally, as a way of celebrating an "eternal feminine". Based on the curatorial guidelines, I seek to reflect upon the impact and critical strength of these shows. For that, I will ask and answer the following questions: did these projects challenge the obliteration of women artist from art histories? narratives and museums? Did they succeed in representing the variety of women's creations? Were they shaped by a feminist consciousness and was feminist noticeable in their framework? What are the limits of giving voice to Argentine women artists, whose herstories are in so many cases often yet to be written? I address these topics from my position in Latin America (and specifically from Argentina), expecting to establish a global conversation concerning the role of feminist interventions in museums and the temptation of creating mythical narratives around some women's careers.