LADIES' ROOM | Balls to the Wall

“Do women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum? Less than 5% of artists in the Modern Art Sections are women, but 85% of the nudes are female.” the iconic Guerrilla Girls poster reads.

It may not be the Met, but Annie Wharton is taking leaps to combat gender inequality in the art world. Wharton, an independent curator and consultant, recently opened LADIES’ ROOM, a space in downtown Los Angeles’ historic Bendix Building dedicated to featuring the works of femme, gender nonconforming, non-binary trans- and cis- women.

Like her noteworthy predecessors, Wharton is not shy about sharing the sobering statistics. “When nearly 2 million different art auction sales were studied, it was found that female artists earn an average of 47% of their male artist counterparts,” the About section of the website reads. “Only 31% of solo exhibitions in museums are female artists,” is continues.

LADIES’ ROOM’s current show, Balls to the Wall, presents work by LA-based artist Krysten Cunningham. The show, which features large multi-media pieces including—yes—literal balls of yarn attached to the wall.

“She uses the textile loom not as a weaving apparatus but as a point of departure, a trope employed to go back in history while bridging to the future. For Cunningham, the loom represents a female-oriented archetype from which much of modern science and technology originates.”

Balls to the Wall will be on display until September 14th, Wednesday through Saturday 12-5 PM (closed for Labor Day). Following the exhibition will be the opening of Children of the Sun, “which explores the recent and past social ecologies of metaphysical art and cult movements in Los Angeles.”

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Balls to the Wall will run through September 14, 2019

Bendix Building 1206 Maple Avenue #502B Los Angeles, CA 90015