Visit to the Lou...Okay well Washington Avenue

I finally made it to the museum and jeez was it a treat! Last Friday night was the 1st of November and the art district right up the street from SLU on Washington Avenue was in full swing. For those of you that don't know, the first of every month is usually when art galleries feature new exhibits and have special openings. A friend and I decided to adventure and see what we could find.

There was a lot of very interesting modern art, some even interaction! (yes I spent 20 mins in a dark room playing with lights, sounds, and smoke). There was also great photography, pretty paintings, and mind-bending sculptures. It was so much fun gazing at the art. Frankly I'm a total art nerd and love going to museums, so this assignment was an easy one!!

What I started to take notice to though is that nearly every single piece of art I was looking at was done by a man...in fact there was hardly any art done by women at all. Spending over four hours and going to over six separate exhibits I realized this wasn't just quirky trend (more men than women) but that it must have been on some level a conscious decision from the art galleries. They only feature art done by men. But why...?

I find this especially odd given that in modern art, the subjects and pieces are almost always abstract, and that the entire time I was in the museum I did not see a single naked women. So why would it matter who creates these abstract pieces? Are men really better at art than women? I highly doubt that any given sex is better than the other at something so subjective as art.

There was a glimmer of hope though. In one of the museums off Washington Avenue I went to exhibit dedicated to women of the ages in live theatre and cinematography. And no I did not know this was going on, it was all purely luck that I walked into this gallery. While still nearly all of the gowns and photographs on display were of created by men, they were featuring very empowering women. Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey and Katherine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Greta Garbo, Marylin Monroe, Judy Garland, Grace Kelly and may others were featured. Personally to me, these women of old Hollywood represent the first women to break out of the household and make a name for themselves. They succeeded not just by their own means but by their accomplishments in film and theatre and worldwide renown. When I look at these women I see the classiness, the drive, and the witt that was the fearless women of old Hollywood.