Andrea Buttner
This week, artist Andrea Buttner of London and Frankfurt was announced as the winner of the Max Mara Prize for Women Artists. Receiving the prize means that Buttner, who works in mixed media (including antiquated items such as woodcuts and pressed flowers), will have the chance to disseminate her work more broadly, as well as take part in a 6-month residency program in Italy. But what about this distinction of the prize being "for women artists"? Are gender-separated prizes like the Max Mara still necessary? Are there implications that men and women artists should be judged separately, by different standards?
Well, since we at Her BluePrint are repping the International Museum of Women, our stripes should be pretty obvious on this particular issue. Women simply still do not always receive the same opportunities as men in essentially every field imaginable, including art. Charlotte Higgins for the Guardian UK points out that only three women have won the Turner Prize since it began in 1984, and the administrators of the Archibald prize in Australia have come under fire for naming only seven women artists (out of 34) as finalists.
Andrea Buttner wins the Max Mara Prize for Women Artists [The Guardian UK]
Women artists cry foul as men dominate Archibald [The Mosman Daily]
