While there have been significant strides in order to create further equality within the art world, London’s major galleries, and even those that are lesser known, still hold notable limitations. Firstly, solo exhibitions are a common practice in London’s art galleries. These exhibitions focus mainly on a single artist or two and display only their works. In 2014-15 study conducted by Charlotte Bonham-Carter, an academic at Central Saint martins, University of the Arts, London, “42% of solo shows were by female artists,” which was an improvement from 2012-13 (Bonham-Carter, 2016). Yet, the “2014-15 data indicates that the percentage of solo shows by female artists at London’s major institutions is only 25%” (Bonham-Carter, 2016). Our project focuses on the major galleries of London, making this data significant to our conclusions. Though it is important that female artists are being given spotlight exhibitions, it is important to note that the statistics do not specify women of color. Bonham-Carter comes to the conclusion that women are still underrepresented in the art world but does not mention women of color specifically at all in her analysis or findings. Commonly, women of color are left out of the conversation that occurs around inequality, when discussing art and many other occupational spheres. It could be argued that the specification of women of color is not necessary when speaking generally about the inequality of the genders in art, yet, the historic underrepresentation of people of color in general makes this a significant topic of discussion in addition to that of gender inequality. Specifically regarding exhibitions, Antwaun Sargent a writer for VICE on topics such as art and the like, comments, “According to a 2017 American Alliance of Museums report, 84 percent of museum curators were white, along with 93 percent of museum directors and board chairs. This means the vast majority of decisions are still being made by white gatekeepers” (Sargent, 2018). White curators determining the worthiness of art displayed in major galleries only perpetuated the inequality that lies within these prominent museums. While exhibitions are an important step in displaying work that is created by people of color, more specifically women of color, their impermanence is a telling factor of the importance given to such art. This limitation is significant and Sargent argues that this can be overcome by including more people of color as curators in significant galleries. These limitations are critical in understanding what aspects of the fight for further equality in the art world need to be addressed, yet this is not the entire extent of the limitations, as there are many more to shed light upon and uncover.

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Source: Bonham-Carter, C. (2016) Representations of Female Artists in Britain.

Source: Sargent, A (2018). To Fight Racism Within Museums, They Need to Stop Acting Like They're Neutral. [online] VICE. Available at: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/pavpkn/to-fight-racism-within-museums-they-need-to-stop-acting-like-theyre-neutral [Accessed 10 Apr. 2019].