"HERSTORY: All That Women Are"

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VIRIDIANARTISTS              A CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERY

548 WEST 28TH STREET between 10th & 11th Ave., NEW YORK, NY, 10001                             TEL 212-414-4040       viridianartistsinc@gmail.com                                                                                                     www.viridianartists.com          

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                             Please List

"HERSTORY: All That Women Are"
March 17- March 28, 2020
Opening Reception: Thursday, March 19th, 6–8pm

Closing Party: Saturday, March 28, 4–6pm with

Performance by N’Cognita at 4:30pm

Kelynn Alder * Deborah Beck * Jenny Belin  * Renee Borkow * Ellen Burnett * Irene Christensen *

May DeViney * Kiffi Diamond *  Michael Drakopoulos * Samantha Dziubek * David Fitzgerald *

Arlene Finger * Elizabeth Ginsberg *  Juliette Gordon * Joshua Greenberg  * Chris Tucker Haggerty *

Yu Huang * Kazuo Ishikawa * Yasmine Iskander * Bernice Sokol Kramer * Marco Lando *

Gabrielle Lundy * Rosemary Lyons * Lynne Mayocole * Ron Moore * Sai Morikawa *  

Vernita N’Cognita * Stacey Clarfield Newman * Nancy Nicol * Petronia Paley *

Srividya Kannan Ramachandran * Sarah Riley * Susan Sills * Katherine Ellinger Smith *

Fances Vye Wilson * Sharon Wybrants  * 

“We have to behave as if everything we do matters”

                                                                                                            Gloria Steinem

Chelsea NY: Viridian Artists is pleased to present an exhibition of outstanding art about women. The show extends from March 17- 28, 2020  with an opening reception on Thursday, March 19th, 6-8PM and a closing party on Saturday, March 28th, 4-6pm with a performance by N’Cognita at 4:30pm.

“Herstory”, the word, came into prominence in the early 70’s when second wave feminists began to fight back regarding the male dominated culture of planet Earth. At that time, to get a credit card or take out a loan a woman would have to bring a man to co-sign.  Some credit cards still charge women a higher interest rate.

Not until the1930’s could women choose professions such as law, but then even with a degree, most could not get a job as a lawyer. Not even Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

During World War Two Rosie the Riveter came into prominence because the men were at war and women had to go out into the work world. But in the 50’s more traditional roles returned for women and wives, bringing them back into housework and motherhood while men went out to work and to “bring home the bacon”. The marriage rate increased, the baby boom brought more then 76 million births and the divorce rate decreased.

In the 60’s though, we women became bored, went back to work and The Pill came into being. But still, even Betty Friedan’s Feminist Mystique and the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) couldn’t give us the equality we demanded though many of us began to reclaim our names rather than carry on with that of our husband.

As recently as 2019 women made but 79 cents in comparison to man’s dollar earned though in 1963, JFK instituted the Equal Pay Act. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research it will be another 40 years before women make as much as men and even longer for women of color.

The gender wage gap is not the only way in which women are still undergoing discrimination. Of more than 5000 public statues in existence in the US, only 200 are of women. During most of history including the 20th century, married women have been the property of their husband with no right to own property or borrow money without their husband co-signing. It wasn’t until 1965 in France that women were given the right to work without their husband’s consent.

It’s interesting that women had far more legal rights in early Egypt & Rome than we did in the 20th century. They could represent themselves in court, own property, free slaves and sue. We can now work the jobs we want, but we also must still often carry the primary burden of the home. The Guerrilla Girls say that at the Met, less than 4% of the artists are women, but 76% of the nudes are female. Pussy Riot faced a 7 year prison sentence for their punk performance at a Russian church, and a woman is yet to become President. So, to honor women, we again resurrect “Herstory”.

Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday 12–6pm

For further information please contact Vernita Nemec, Gallery Director at 212-414-4040 or viridianartistsinc@gmail.com

or view the gallery website: www.viridianartists.com