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RESULTSEast London Fawcett’s (ELF) Art Audit, which ran from April 2012 to April 2013, has uncovered the following data.
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ELF audited 134 commercial galleries in London, which collectively represent 3163 artists and found that:
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31% of the represented artists are women
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78% of the galleries represent more men than women
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17% of the galleries represent more women than men
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5% of the galleries represent an equal number of male and female artists
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22 galleries (16%) had male representation of 80% or more whereas only 3 galleries (2%) had female representation of 80% or more
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30 of the galleries represent an equal number or more female artists than male, that’s 22%
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ELF audited the solo shows featured in the exhibition programmes of 29 noncommercial galleries in London between April 2012 and April 2013, including a total of 133 solo shows:
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31% of these shows were by female artists
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Nearly a third of the galleries (31%) presented no female solo shows (but a number of male solo shows) during this period
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Over two thirds of the galleries exhibited more than 60% male solo shows
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Only 1 of the 29 galleries exhibited an equal number of male and female solo shows
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Only one of the gallery programmes that ELF audited (that’s 3%) featured all female solo shows, whereas 31% of the gallery programmes featured all male solo shows
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ELF audited the front cover of all issues of a leading UK art publication over the past 5 years. From 2008-2012 28% of the front covers featured a female artist, the breakdown is as follows:
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YearPercentage of front covers featuring a female artist
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201229
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201138
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201043
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200916
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200810
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During the same period, 35.5% of a leading US art publication’s front covers featured a female artist. The percentage for each year is:
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YearPercentage of front covers featuring a female artist
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201240
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201150
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201044
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200933
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20084
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ELF audited 43 pieces of public art in east London; 14% were made by female artists, 86% by male
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We audited 386 public works of art in Westminster and the City of London and found that 8% were made by female artists and 92% by male
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25% of the artists selected for the 4th Plinth are female
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ELF audited the top 100 auction performances in 2012, there were no women on the list
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Frieze 2012
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27.5% of the artists represented at Frieze Art Fair 2012 are womenThese results reflect a survey of 3441 artists across the 135 international galleries represented in the commercial section of Frieze Art Fair 2012
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1.5% of the galleries represent less than one third male artists, 67% of the galleries represent less than one third female artists
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3.7% of the galleries at Frieze 2012 represent the same number of male and female artists
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8.9 % of the galleries represent an equal number of male and female artists or more female artists than male
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6% of the galleries represent only one or no female artists
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In 2012, 23.3% of solo exhibitions hosted by commercial galleries in London during Frieze week presented female artists. In 2008 Laura McLean-Ferris did a similar survey and found that 11.6% of these shows were by women.
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Source: East London Fawcett's Art AuditNote: For the purpose of this study we have excluded collaborations, artworks of unknown origin (public art) and used binary gender descriptors.