To celebrate our Girls Rule issue, Dazed is running a series of female takeovers. So far we've played host to Angel Haze and Stacy Martin. Today Canadian artist and provocateur Petra Collins is running the show, with pieces including this manifesto for her art collective, The Ardorous, a head-to-head interview with Karley "Slutever" Sciortino, articles on inspirational women and one out-there sex playlist. Keep checking our Petra Collins Day page for more throughout the day.
I created The Ardorous in my last year of high school three years ago. I had been taking photos and producing work for four years and was getting frustrated with the lack of outlets to share my work. I wanted to see and create work that inspired me and empowered me as a young woman but never experienced that. So I decided to take action and start a platform that would allow young female artists to get their work seen and collaborate with one another.
The art world has always been a "boys' club". Its hard for us to see a place in society when there is no space to produce and share ideas of our own. You can walk into a museum like the Met or MOMA and less than 5 per cent of the work is created by women (not to mention WoC). Art "has the ability to set ideals, philosophical concerns, and cultural conditions" (1), so growing up in a society where images for and of women are actually created by and for men leaves little room for a healthy, unbiased view of the female gender. This destructive culture of a one-sided representation needs to change. I want to offer an alternative to this landscape we live on, one that celebrates women and the power that we hold.
My goal is to question the current ideology of femininity and recast women in positive/dominant roles. The Ardorous offers work by an array of international female artists whose practices demonstrate their struggle with the female identity. We're constantly growing as a collective, starting with 15 members to now almost 40. We've now had two groups shows and have one coming up in March and are also working on our first book with Prestel Publishing company. I'm excited to grow and continue to put a spotlight on hard working female artists that deserve to have their voice heard.
(1) "Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History", The Nude in Baroque and Later Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2013.
