Art by Women- Komal Shah puts together a show
Today is the last day to visit the extraordinary Shah Garg Foundation, “Making Their Mark” exhibition in Chelsea NY. I rushed to catch the show in the city last January and was so happy to see it extended for an extra two months. Since its extension, the exhibition has lingered in my thoughts, sparkling in my mind’s eye like jeweled hors d'oeuvres, and I am left searching the internet for any one of these women’s oeuvres to be delivered up as a fine meal.
“Making Their Mark” includes over 90 pieces by 84 different women in the two-story exhibition space. Walking into the exhibition space, one is greeted by a chronological listing of the artists printed in a column from ceiling to floor. In the galleries, work from emerging creatives in their 20s hangs next to that of octogenarians who are just now receiving recognition, a range which Shah notes came from talking to artists her age about who inspires them. The installation is fascinating and a visual journey through time that underscores the inter-connectedness of artistic legacies. You can literally see clutches of women within each of the eight generations, (from 1946 to today). I was reminded how creativity flourishes within a tapestry of influences and collaborations. The art of a culture is a partnership of creators who influence and correspond across times. I delighted in the works of my sheroes and was intrigued by the works of younger artists that I had never followed.
A significant highlight of the exhibition is the prominence given to textile art, which is an area dominated by females but often relegated to craft work, a minor category in the patriarchal lens. The show boldly wipes away the false distinctions that have so often kept women marginalized in the story of art making. Among the captivating voices demanding recognition are Elizabeth Talford Scott (1916-2011), Judith Scott (1943-2005), and Joyce Scott (bn 1948-), whose works resonate with personal and political undertones, challenging conventional notions of artistry.
Portrait of Komal Shah, (2024 “Museum Matron” series) by Tilly Strauss
The driving forces behind this collection, Komal Shah and her partner Gaurav Garg, are originally from India and migrated to the US to study and work in the tech industry. Komal Shah has held executive positions at Oracle, Netscape, and Yahoo. She left the tech industry in 2008 to pursue philanthropy and art collecting with an emphasis on women artists. Shah has served as a board trustee at the San Francisco Museum of Art and has followed their agenda closely. “Museums need to be nimble, but it’s become so structurally heavy that sometimes it’s hard to do that,” she said, noting that other actors such as private collectors “play a complementary role” to shape stories, nudge, disrupt and advance conversations.
The Shah Garg Foundation aims to rectify the historical underrepresentation of women in art, reshaping narratives and fostering a global dialogue. The collection, as seen in “Making Their Mark” has a distinct global focus with American artists being joined by artists from Lebanon, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, India, Ethiopia, Switzerland, England, Brazil, Poland, Germany, Iran, Canada, Austria, France, Kenya, Thailand, Ukraine, Romania, South Korea, and Zimbabwe.
Joan Mitchell, Untitled, 1992, enjoyed
At the heart of this endeavor is a dedication to authenticity and passion, as evidenced by Shah's eclectic approach to collecting. From paintings and sculptures to textiles and ceramics, her acquisitions are guided by a visceral connection to the artwork, transcending conventional boundaries of medium and genre. Shah says, “I see my role as an activist, collector, and philanthropist.” This vision challenges the status quo.
Many of the well-known women artists included in the show were represented by minor works compared to the platform of major pieces given to younger artists. This reflects the economy of collecting these days. Much of the Shah Garg collection was purchased under the advisory help of the director of the San Francisco Museum.
The exhibition's curator, Cecilia Alemani, brings her expertise from the 59th Venice Biennale, where she championed the work of women artists. Eighty percent of her exhibited artists were women. This challenges the existing power structure within the art world where only 10% to 15% of the artwork in U.S. galleries and museums is created by women. Women are as well represented as men in roles like administrators, curators, museum board members, gallerists, collectors, museumgoers. Just not as artists. Through initiatives like this, Shah and her collaborators are paving the way for a more equitable and inclusive future for women in the arts.
Pinaree Sanpitak, The Body and the Gold breast, 2021 with author
The “big wigs” in the show included Joan Mitchell, Jaune Quick-to-see Smith and Elizabeth Murray. The “big but forgotten” included Jennifer Bartlett, who died 2022. I hadn’t seen much of her work since the 1980’s. Her wall sized piece, At Sea, 1979, is a grid of tiles that shimmer and transport you down the gritty neighborhood to the shiny Hudson river at the end of the block. Another delectable big piece is the The Demon Menagerie, 2019–20 by Cecily Brown. It’s a giant oil on linen painting that takes a whole wall and invites you to walk right into it. It comes- fresh off a show at the Met marrying abstraction and figuration together, with teeming bodies, emerging and disappearing. Her practice involves understanding art by copying.
The new artists I was delighted to discover include Firelei Báez, For Améthyste and Athénaïre (Exiled Muses Beyond Jean Luc Nancy’s Canon), Anacaonas, 2018, a mammoth 21-foot work oil on canvas over wood panel, with hand-painted wood frames. It was originally commissioned for MoMA’s West 53rd Street window, where it was exhibited from 2018 to 2019, the work resembles an ornately decorated blue wall, surrounded by marble architecture. In the center of two wooden frames are Améthyste and Athénaïre Christophe, daughters of the first and only king and queen of Haiti, who witnessed the Caribbean country gaining its independence from France. The fact that that piece is in Shah’s collection and not in MoMA’s tells you a lot.
Another large work I adored was Pinaree Sanpitak’s (bn1961) The Body and the Gold Breast, 2021, Acrylic and gold leaf on canvas. Giant, minimal, and extremely elegant, this painting is one of a series done after the birth of her child and born of her experience as a mother and of the challenges of breastfeeding. The Green Paintress, 2000, oil on canvas, (a promised gift to the SF museum of Modern art), by Maria Lassnig (1919-2014), could be the emblem of the show. A figure rendered in luscious thick greens and blue and pink oil paints stakes a claim that feels gesturally both angry and celebratory.
Detail from Maria Lassnig, The Green Paintress, 2000
As the exhibition draws to a close, Shah's vision for a permanent public home for the collection takes shape, fueled by the success of "Making Their Mark." She is determined to amplify the voices of women artists, ensuring their rightful place in art history. As I depart from the exhibition, enriched by the myriad voices and perspectives encountered, I am reminded of the transformative power of art to inspire, provoke, and unite us all.
This is the first public exhibition of this collection. After the exhibition closes in late March, it will travel to the Berkeley Art Museum and the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum in St Louis.
