Feminist Art Histories and Masculinity: Reading the Mainstream Art Museum

<div>This thesis investigates the impact feminist art histories have had on mainstream art</div><div>museums. The key finding of this thesis is that masculinity, or the traditional heteromasculine</div><div>box, continues to impact the mainstream art museum. The research is</div><div>approached through two case studies: Tate Modern, London, and the National Portrait</div><div>Gallery, also in London. Each case study is conceptualised as comprising three,</div><div>interconnecting and overlapping spheres: the organisational sphere, the curatorial sphere</div><div>and the physical sphere.</div><div>This thesis finds that, alongside the overwhelming impact of masculinity, structural</div><div>faults in the collection, caused by historic bias, have created obstacles for curators.</div><div>However, feminist art historical approaches are being implemented within the curatorial</div><div>sphere in order to attempt to fill gaps and to correct biases. Although within the</div><div>organisational sphere there is evidence of a feminist legacy, masculinity continues to</div><div>have a large impact on experiences within physical art spaces, leading to questions</div><div>about whether the actions museums are taking to diversify their collections is enough.</div><div>The thesis argues that as some gaps in collections are addressed, others are being</div><div>ignored and continue to grow. This is most evident in the case of transgender narratives.</div><div>Despite the rise in the number of women artists and/or artists of colour, these artists are</div><div>not given the same space as artists accepted within the art historical canon. This causes</div><div>a lack of equivalency of scale between artists. Additionally, there are often specific</div><div>spaces and times given to the display of marginalised artists. For example, the thesis</div><div>finds that often the interpretation of an artist’s queerness is limited to certain spaces</div><div>within the gallery, or confined to special events and displays.</div><div>Ultimately this thesis contributes to the growing field of queer feminist art histories as</div><div>well as a queer reading of museums, while also exploring transgender and gender nonconforming</div><div>narratives in art spaces.</div>