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Immerse yourself in an emotional and revolutionary journey through the pages of The Noble Dream of Being an Artist: The Hidden Faces of Art.In this poignant anthology, light is shed on the stories of 50 women artists from the past through poems inspired by their lives and artistic journeys. Moreover, the book is a literary treasure housing a captivating collection of portraits and works by outstanding and talented contemporary artists, all inspired by the artists we pay tribute to. With passion and creativity in every stroke, these artists have captured the essence and strength of the protagonists, reviving their memories and building a valuable testimony to the relevance and enduring impact of female artists in culture and art.
The Noble Dream of Being an Artist: The Hidden Faces of Art is a cry of resistance, a challenge to break down the walls of invisibility, and a reflection on the importance of inclusion and equality in the world of art.
If you want more information, I also have attached a prologue that an important costa rican writer created for the book.
We, the women
The hidden faces of art. This powerful subtitle traps us and places us in a reality that accepts an enormous list of adjectives: cruel, true, painful, unjust. We, women, denied. This reality transits through all spheres of human endeavor. Not only the plastic arts, but literature, science, politics. The total conglomerate of the manifestations of the human being is permeated: the work of women, their manifestations, their contributions, have been historically ignored.
Today, we represent 52% of the world’s population. In spite of this, what we think, what we feel, our proposals continue to be ignored on many occasions or, failing that, used without any credit, a practice consolidated throughout history.
Right from the initial biography in the book, we are moved to learn the identity of the pioneer of cinematography. Yes, the very first. Yes, a woman. Alice Guy’s vast oeuvre is either missing or attributed to male creation.
And from this, more biographies unfold, all of them painful, as are usually the lives of women who try to oppose the status quo, to give voice to their need to create.
It is necessary to point out how the biographies are marked by the irremediable destiny of the feminine condition: ignored artists, belatedly recognized, declared mentally insane.
One of the great successes of this book is to show us -with total fidelity- that destiny; but at the same time to bring us closer to the profile of these creators, and to awaken our interest in their work. Recreating their life stories and offering the homage of their peers, who through their gazes bring us closer to their presence.
The biographies make up an extensive rosary of discrimination by gender, by ethnicity, by politics. Discrimination, always discrimination. It is a fact that women suffer what could be considered “cumulative discrimination”. The first, fundamental, because they are women. On top of this, there are all the other forms of discrimination that societies have normalized. One of the artists present, Carmen Herrera, openly confesses the reason given by another woman for her exclusion: “Rose Fried, a gallery owner, once said to me, ‘What you paint I love, but I’m not going to give you a chance because you’re a woman.’”
Here, the book confronts us with this reality. It allows us to reflect on it. The texts that accompany each biography do so with tenderness, respect and sensitivity. This is another of its great successes.
We bring the words of Clarice Lispector, the powerful Brazilian writer, who affirms: “I write because I have nothing to do in the world: I am surplus to requirements and there is no place for me in the world of men.” A feeling shared by women throughout history. That of not having a “place in the world”.
The book “The noble dream of being an artist” is presented as a forceful response to this feeling of frustration. A fire to illuminate the profile of so many women creators, and to tell them that there is a place for them in the world, even if recognition is late; to tell them also that other women, in solidarity, have taken on the task of rescuing and sharing the intensity of their profiles, from the image and from the word, with a mandate: to break the siege of discrimination.
Arabella Salaverry
Magón National Culture Award
Costa Rica
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