What's Going On With Women in Position's of Power?

Anne Baldassari devoted 23 years of her life to the Picasso Museum, ran it for 9 of those years but was fired last week. She was responsible for the museums growth since she was brought on board. Her influence and work speaks for itself as The Guardian states that she "is renowned as a Picasso expert and has been the driving force behind the upgrading of the museum and its collection [of 5,000 paintings]". However, the staff accused her of "brutal management and [running a] regime of fear".

The Editor of Le Monde, Natalie Nougayrède, resigned last week after a little over a year as Editor in Chief. The New York Times reports that she was "criticized by her staff for a top-down management style and an inability to build consensus" even though their issue was with them being resistant to changes she was making to get Le Monde up to speed with the digital world. She was the first woman to be Editor in Chief and Director.

Jill Abramson was fired from her role as Executive Director at The New York Times last week. NBC News reported her as having "a pattern of behavior including "arbitrary decision-making, a failure to consult and bring colleagues with her, inadequate communication and the public mistreatment of colleagues". She was the first female Executive Editor in The New York Time's 160 year history.

I'm of the opinion that the complaints formed against these pioneers in art and journalism, are not coincidental. Had these firings and resignation taken place farther apart, it might have been a stretch to connect the dots. However, all of these occurrences happened in the last week so it begs for us to pay attention.

Women in positions of power often face being called bossy, difficult, and a bitch for operating no different than their male counterparts. All while still not receiving equal pay for equal work. The situations of the three women above force everyone to acknowledge that this problem is far more prevalent and real than a lot of people choose to admit. The pink elephant in the room just grew bigger. How much larger does it have to become before corrective action is implemented?

Trying to Understand Artists

If I had a dollar for everytime someone referred to an artist as "crazy", with disgust in their tone, I'd have enough money to never need to work for anyone else. I use the word 'crazy' heavily because I don't view it as a bad thing. It is my belief that every human being has a level of insanity they reach; others just get there quicker and more frequently so it's easier to identify their "different" behavior. From observance, if your differences are more obvious, you "earn" the negative connotation of 'crazy'.

Regardless of how we individually see mania, It becomes easier to look at these creators without bias when we can comprehend why they behave as they do. 

Trying to understand artists can be difficult as hell because they can be very picky about who they let into their life. A lot of times it is due to the above judging. Other times, it is nothing more than them not caring about others being uncomfortable with who they are and rightfully so. One thing that no one can take from an artist is the beauty that can be produced by redirecting their 'crazy' into their craft. Without obsessive compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, multiple personalities, alcoholism, drug addiction, depression, being an introvert/extrovert, autism/aspergers syndrome, sociopathic behavior, and a plethora of other things that can be associated with disorderly behavior, we wouldn't have awe inspiring murals, record breaking musicians, literature that changes anyone's life that reads it, movement that evokes every range of emotion possible, and fashion that greatly contributes to the beauty of the person showcasing it.

Analyzing them less and feeling more can open our minds to whom they are. Even artists who aren't big on conveying feelings outside of their work are still walking balls of emotion. Making everything they do about them being difficult and/or out of control, removes the focus of the real subject: their art.

Sometimes the beauty of who they are resides in not being able to quickly figure them out. It's safe to say that they'd much rather you FEEL them through their work. Due to their gift being part of who they are, they can't help but to include parts of themselves in their work so get to know their work. All the darkness, mania, and perceived negativity begins to look very human and real even to the most skeptical eye. Of course you'd have to appreciate art on that level. Otherwise, they'll still just look like a deck that's missing more than half its cards.

When all else fails though, stop trying so hard to interpret the artist and just choose to experience the art.

[post can also be seen on !kohaus Art !s http://ikohaus.blogspot.com]

Supporting Artists

Support. Sometimes it’s hard to accept that it translates differently to family/friends when you’re an artist. I’ve experienced various forms of rejection from family/friends before anyone else. While it feels like someone hitting you with a sledgehammer, most times, it prepares us for all the people who just won’t like what we have to offer.

In the mind of most artists, if we support them, we’ll be at their shows/readings, purchase their work when it’s available, and introduce it to others. Some people would beg to differ but how else is an artist supposed to get exposure without those three facets? It’s cool that we might acknowledge to THEM that they are good at what they do but if more people don’t know, the artist might as well crawl in a hole and stay hidden. Art, in its respective fashions, is meant to be seen, heard, and felt. So when support doesn’t lend credit to that, it becomes difficult to agree that people are actually supporting someone.

So how can we show more support to our artistic associates?

With social networks being such a fluid part of life today, it isn’t difficult. Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram, and other networks allow us to retweet/reblog/repost any information that floats down our timeline/dashboard/wall. We don’t have to wait for our favorite writer/visual or performing artist to hype themselves either. Support is literally in our reach at all times; it doesn’t hurt to post their work on our own. Yet, how often do we share our friends/family work we’re so proud of?

It probably doesn’t cross some people’s minds that if we consistently tell someone they’re good or great at something but never share their greatness with anyone, it becomes lip service. So all that time we spend sharing other people’s work with our followers, we should be throwing some of our friends/family’s work out there too. Visual and performing artists tend to have shows where they put their work on display. If we’re of the social butterfly caliber and find ourselves at venues supporting random strangers, we can include our artistic acquaintances efforts in our outings. Inviting others out with us so they can be introduced to all of the awesome that we are familiar with, helps as well.

Technology has increased the ability of word of mouth. However, the old fashioned way works just as good too. By talking to others about great writers, painters, dancers, and singers, we give more people the chance to share in spreading the word about their talents. While networking and connecting, we get the opportunity to get the artists we love and believe in, into doors they typically might not have access to. This is another form of support.

If you are an artist, that is even more of a reason to support your family/friends. Some complain that they don’t have time to hype someone else when they are trying to be seen themselves. The world is big enough for everyone to create art. When artists support each other, regardless of the type of art, it allows your work to be seen by people who would otherwise probably overlook you. So if you’re a painter but know writers, support one another as if you created the same art. The thing about art is, most people who are lovers of it, tend to like more than one facet. So help yourself by helping someone else.

None of this is in an effort to do all the work for the artist. It’s to give people an idea of how to show more relevant support to those whose art they respect and enjoy. No one should have to twist our arm if people are as good as we say they are. It should come effortlessly. If it doesn’t, we might want to reconsider how much we say we support them. While it might sound good, without actually doing it, we’re not really contributing to the success of the talented Creatives we know.