Looking to freshen up your art palette in 2023? Sick of hearing the same artist names taking all the limelight? Well, it’s high time to make room on your wall and in your heart for some extraordinary talent. I find there’s nothing more exciting than finding a new artist’s work to dive into that are actually still alive.
It’s 2023, and the art scene has seen a massive upsurge of female artists breaking the mold and rewriting art history. From the shiniest new talents on the block to famous female painters that have been causing ripples in the art world finally getting the light they deserve, these artists are producing masterpieces that can move you, provoke thought, and even occasionally give you the giggles.
Now, some art critics might still squabble over whether the delicate curves of Ruben’s women can compete with these modern masterpieces, but one thing is clear: the era of female artists is upon us, and it’s as colourful, bold, and diverse as you’d imagine.
So, buckle up, dear reader, because you’re about to embark on a whirlwind tour of our carefully curated list of 107 female artists you need to know in 2023. Prepare to have your mind blown, and your worldview artistically expanded for this is truly a feast for the eyes and soul.
Why should you know about these Female Artists?
You might wonder why it’s essential to familiarize yourself with these remarkable female artists. Well, the art world is a vast and vibrant place, teeming with diverse voices, styles, and narratives. By broadening your horizons and immersing yourself in the works of these female artists, you’re opening yourself up to fresh perspectives and innovative approaches that are finally being given the recognition they deserve. These women are all actively working artists so you now have the pleasure of watching their journey and experiencing their art evolve over time.
These artists don’t merely reflect the times – they help shape them. Each artist, with their distinctive artistic language, creates pieces that resonate, inspire, and challenge us to see the world in a new light and through their eyes.
In short, getting to know these artists enriches our understanding of art, culture, and even ourselves. So, without further ado, let’s begin our journey into the fascinating realm of the female artists of 2023 who are creating, captivating, and conquering the art scene.
1.Tracey Emin
pictured above: Like a Cloud of Blood
Emin’s raw and provocative art demands engagement, embodying the human condition and female emotions in its raw forms. Tracey Emin is one of the YBAs (Young British Artists) who rose to fame in the 90s with her piece ‘My Bed’.
2. Katie Hector
pictured above: Torque
Hector’s approach to portraiture is incredibly cool. She uses airbrush paints to sketch her faces giving them a glowing sense of reality whilst also holding an air of mystery as to whose portrait you’re actually looking at.
3. Rebecca Hardaker
pictured above: Imagine Unquiet Slumbers for the Sleepers in That Quiet Earth
Known for her uncanny ability to bring bold emotion to life on canvas, Rebecca’s art speaks volumes through some unsuspecting imagery. Featured on episode one of the Girl&Gallery podcast, Rebecca’s work is magic.
4. Jade Fadojutimi
pictured above: Taught Thought
Jade’s abstract creations exude fluidity, with broad brush strokes and vivid colours taking us on her journey of self discovery. Her often massive paintings (the one seen above is over 7×10 feet) take-up entire walls and can feel very immersive to stand in front of. She recently exhibited a solo show at the Hepworth gallery in Wakefield, England.
5. Flora Yukhnovich
pictured above: If All the World Were Jell-O
Flora’s work blends the classical and contemporary, offering a modern, feminine reinterpretation of old masters. They look almost as if you’ve taken a Rococo painting and swirled it up like whip cream. The names of her paintings are the cherry on top – all very clever and have a modern contract to her somewhat classical imagery.
6. Caroline Walker
pictured above: Night Scenes
Caroline captures the mundane every day in her work, reminding us of the beauty and drama in ordinary moments. Walker’s ability to portray light make the homes in her paintings look as if her paintings are powered on and the lights are actually on inside the house. Its completely mesmerizing.
7. Shumaiya Khan
pictured above: Meaning of a Song
Shumaiya’s vibrant hues and bold brush strokes echo her deepest emotions. Each of her paintings is paired with a poem she wrote hidden on the back of the canvas. The ideas and sentiments of the poem flow perfectly into the painting.
8. France-Lise McGurn
pictured above: Barracuda
McGurn’s pieces are a complex dance of figures and emotions, blurring the lines between public and private. You can find her work on the ceiling of the cafe at Tate Britian.
9. Angela Santana
pictured above: Fruitful Thoughts
Angela’s art interrogates the male gaze and reconstructs the typical depiction of female nude paintings.She reconfigures the subject of the painting to protect their identity and creates a reimagined image of a woman’s body.
10.Genieve Figgis
pictured above: Fashion Shoot
Darkly comedic, Figgis’s work juxtaposes the macabre with the lighthearted in vibrant theatrical scenes. Growing up she was heavily involved in local plays and costume making and you can clearly see this inspiration in her paintings.
11. Ines Longevial
pictured above: Olive Oil on Dragonfruit
Longevial’s use of warm tones in her paintings casts her portraits like a sunset creating a dreamlike and empathetic draw towards the subject of the painting.
12. Amanda Wall
pictured above: Tulip
Wall’s paintings are positioned from unusual angles depicting a swirling reality. Blending shocking voyeurism with fleeting moments, her work draws you in and you can’t look away.
13. Sally Kindberg
pictured above: Spin
Kindberg’s pieces host fantastical elements intruding upon ordinary scenes. Her close-up snapshots of life are a perfect example of modern surrealism.
14. Nokuhanya Langa
pictured above: Untitled
Nokuhanya’s work is a vibrant interplay of colour and form, exploring memory, identity, and our relationship with space. Some of her works are canvas stretched over an organically shaped canvas made with foam.
15. Nadia Waheed
pictured above: Bathers
Nadia’s bold, often large-scale work is a powerful exploration of female identity and strength with an undeniable emotional depth. Her figurative work often tackles cultural traumas and are deeply spiritual.
16. Jenny Saville
Saville’s raw exploration of the female form challenges traditional beauty ideals in compelling, unflinching detail. Her painting (below) broke records at Sotheby’s in 2018 selling for $12.4 million, the highest sale ever for a female living artist.
17. Amy Sherald
pictured above: Kingdom
Sherald’s portraitures are a testament to the complexity of identity, capturing her subjects with honesty and empathy. She had the honor of painting First Lady Michelle Obama’s portrait after winning the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition in 2016.
18. Louise Giovanelli
pictured above: Wager
Louise’s art is a symphony of depth and texture, her technique turns the act of viewing into a tactile experience. There is a particularly special sparkle in her recent work.
19. Joy Labinjo
pictured above: 5 More Minutes
Joy’s vibrant pieces fuse personal memory and cultural history, presenting a refreshing, inclusive perspective on British life. She was commissioned by Art on the Underground to create a mural inside the Brixton tube station in London.
20. Jess Allen
pictured above: He Brought Me Flowers
Jess’s work explores the ideas of presence and its boundaries. A lot of her work shows empty furniture with a shadow cast over it – alluding to the presence of someone without them actually being there and conveying a sense of nostalgia.
21. Allison Zuckerman
pictured above: Diana’s Dream
Zuckerman’s art is a visual feast of colour, shape, and reference, a remix of history with a contemporary twist. Her pop-surrealist style looks as if a video game was blended with the old masters.
22. Henrietta Dubrey
pictured above: Angelica
Dubrey’s bold and curvaceous figures have an inspiring sense of calm confidence. Her linework is recognisable through her abstract paintings and those of people.
23. Julie Curtiss
pictured above: No Place Like Home
Curtiss’s work explores femininity through surreal and often unsettling imagery, inviting viewers to question and interpret what is happening in the scene. Hair is a common motif you can find in a lot of her work.
24. Bridget Riley
pictured above: Reflection 2
Riley, a pillar of Op Art, plays with optical illusions to provoke a visceral, physical response in viewers.
25. Jennifer Louise Martin
pictured above: Like There Was Never Another Reality
Martin’s work explores human emotion and how our mental state can affect our sense of reality and how we engage in the present. Some of her paintings are a combination of paint and collage.
26. Simone Leigh
pictured above: Sovereignty
Leigh’s sculptures, steeped in African tradition, profoundly explore themes of race, history, and femininity. Simone represented the United States at the Venice Biennale in 2022 (below).
27. Chloe Wise
pictured above: Lactose Tolerence
Wise’s work humorously critiques consumer culture and social norms, intertwining irony and insight. Food imagery is a common motif you can find across her work.
28. Ayako Rokkaku
pictured above: Untitled
Rokkaku’s large, colourful canvases, painted with her hands, convey an infectious sense of joy and childlike wonder.
29. Rachel Whiteread
pictured above: Untitled (Stairs) currently found at the Tate Britian
Whiteread’s sculptures, a play of absence and presence, explore space in ghostly forms. Often depicting everyday objects using casts. She was the first woman to win the Turner Prize in 1993 and was one of the YBAs who exhibited at the Royal Academy’s Sensations exhibition.
30. Tshebalala Self
pictured above: Two Women 3
Tshebalala’s mixed-media pieces explore the female body whilst challenging and redefining cultural representations. Her work is predominantly sewn and made of fabric.
31. Ilana Savide
pictured above: Tickling the Before and After
Savide’s work combines abstract and figurative elements to explore the intricacies of the human experience and are often inspired by performance.
32. Rana Begum
pictured above: No. 1081 Mesh
Begum’s minimalist approach and usage of repetitive geometric patterns create mesmerizing spaces that blend art and architecture. She distills your social awareness into visual art and beautiful sculptures.
33. Chantal Joffe
pictured above: Moll (mermaid girl)
Joffe’s deeply personal portraits capture the complexity of human emotions with striking honesty and rawness. Her paintings often depict women and children from her life or from memory.
34. Celia Paul
pictured above: My Sisters in Mourning
Paul’s introspective art, characterized by her distinctive muted palette, speaks to the nature of memory and self. She is known for hauntingly intimate depictions of herself and people she knows well.
35. April Bey
pictured above: So I Might As Well Give Them Something To Talk About
Bey’s vibrant, boundary-pushing mixed media pieces engage with themes of race, gender, and popular culture in a direct and provocative way.
36. Sara Shamma
pictured above: Meera & Sanjeev
Shamma’s hauntingly beautiful work often reflects on themes of displacement and human resilience in the face of conflict. She believes that death gives more meaning to life and instead of shying away from a topic people usually brush aside – she explores it in her work.
37. Xu Yang
pictured above: Imagine Yourself a Warrior
Yang’s pieces meld traditional Chinese painting techniques with modern sensibilities, creating a strong and harmonious balance. A visual depiction of feminine strength.
38. Kathleen Ryan
pictured above: Bad Melon (Double Rainbow)
Ryan’s art is characterized by her intricate and captivating sculptures that explore themes of nature, decay, and the cross section between beauty and imperfection. She is known for her large scale sculptures of decaying fruit made with crystals and gemstones – a true feast for the eyes (but maybe not your belly).
39. Faye WeiWei
pictured above: Henry (The Sun Stuck To Our Skin)
WeiWei’s work blends traditional motifs with a modern aesthetic, creating pieces that are both contemporary and timeless. Her work often features spiritual iconography and themes of love stories and myths.
40. Ana Sneeringer
pictured above: Close Enough To Hear You
Ana’s playful, whimsical illustrations transport viewers into a world filled with color and imagination with women at the epicenter of her storytelling.
41. Lydia Hamblet
pictured above: After Summer, We Played Different Games
Lydia Hamblet’s art touches on the universal experience of the weather, captivating with its vibrant colors and organic forms. Inviting viewers to explore a dreamlike realm of imagination.
42. Celina Teague
pictured above: Watchful Eye
Teague’s surreal work is a compelling social commentary, often combining humor, symbolism, and a riot of color to challenge the status quo. Recently, her work contemplates on ‘armchair activism’ and how beneficial to society it really is.
43. LeeLee Kimmel
pictured above: Formula 1
LeeLee Kimmel’s art emanates a profound sense of emotional depth through her bold and abstract compositions. It is structured yet organic paired with assertive colors making for a powerful painting.
44. Seline Burn
pictured above: Tough Itch to Scratch
Burn’s work beautifully reflects on the ethereal nature of memory and perception. Her subjects are often turning away from the viewer in a state of reminisce and introversion.
45. Ania Hobson
pictured above: Heated Debate
Hobson’s portraiture, with its strong use of color and line, captures individual personalities and the subtleties of human interaction.
46. Vanessa Stockard
pictured above: 3AM Sonata
Stockard’s whimsical and quirky paintings offer a playful exploration of everyday life and the natural world. They often mimic famous artworks using a cheeky cat character she’s fondly named Kevin.
47. Issy Wood
pictured above: Get a towel and some smoke
Wood’s pieces are surreal and dreamlike, showcasing an exploration of memories, personal histories, and pop culture. Known for her up close and personal paintings, the artist is also an electro-pop musician.
48. Brittany Shepherd
pictured above: Ashes to Lashes, Dust to Lust
Shepherd’s striking paintings are an evocative combination of traditional figurative painting styles depicting modern imagery playing on perception.
49. Sophie Tea
pictured above: Anna
Sophie is taking the world by storm with her bold and vibrant paintings of women’s bodies. A pioneer for art accessibility, her recent book ‘Send Nudes’ was launched featuring a collection of her empowering paintings.
50. Jenna Gribbon
pictured above: Tenderness and Trust
Gribbon’s paintings, infused with a sense of intimacy and powerful emotion, often explore themes of love and desire. Redefining the ‘female gaze’ in her paintings of the female form, her greatest muse is her partner Mackenzie Scott who can be found in many of her paintings. Jenna also made an appearance in an episode of Gossip Girl, Season 5.
51. Nikoleta Sekulovic
pictured above: Quantum
Sekulovic’s work reflects the beauty of everyday life and the female form, with a sense of grace and serenity. Her work is very calm and contemplative.
52. Marilyn Minter
pictured above: Torrent
Minter’s provocative work often sits at the intersection of beauty, desire, and consumer culture, pushing boundaries and conventions. Famed for her photorealistic style – you’re never truly sure whether it’s a photo or a painting since she’s a master of both.
53. CJ Hendry
pictured above: Razzle Dazzle
Hendry’s hyperrealistic colored pencil drawings explore the complexity and richness of seemingly mundane objects, with meticulous detail and precision. Her genius creation – “Copywrite Infringement” – was an art scavenger hunt where she hid original works all around the city for people to find. Inspired by receiving an actual legal claim of copyright infringement, instead of throwing the works away she hid them for us to find.
54. Rebecca Foster-Clarke
pictured above: Rich Pickings
Foster-Clarke’s paintings capture the mood and atmosphere of being a young woman. Insects, animals and other natural elements help portray the ominous energy in her work.
55. Guerilla Girls
pictured above: Do Women Have To Be Naked To Get Into the Met. Museum?
This anonymous group of feminist artists use humor and bold visuals to challenge gender and racial bias in the art world. Each member goes under a pseudonym of a deceased female artist as a way to honor their legacy e.g. Frida Khalo and Kathe Kollwitz. They wear gorilla masks in order to conceal their identity when in public.
56. Sarah Sze
pictured above: Fixed Points Finding a Home
Sze’s intricate installations and sculptures blur the boundaries between painting, sculpture, and architecture, creating immersive spaces.
57. Rita Maikova Zaporozhets
pictured above: Blue Lagoon Feelings
Zaporozhets’s work delves into the realm of the subconscious, creating dreamlike narratives that resonate deeply. Her surreal paintings depict scenes of love and resilience.
58. Jenny Holzer
pictured above: Torso
Holzer is a conceptual artist whose text-based work is a potent commentary on society, often incorporating profound truisms that provoke thought and reflection.
59. Julie Heffernan
pictured above: Self Portrait Moving Out
Heffernan’s enchanting paintings are a surreal exploration of the self, often featuring fantastical landscapes and symbolic elements. Her paintings are self portraits of her subconscious expressing her deep concerts and feelings.
60. Katherine Bernhardt
pictured above: A Space Odyessy
Bernhardt’s monumental, bold and colorful paintings are energetic celebrations of popular culture, often featuring objects and characters from everyday life. The painting above is over 30 feet wide!
61. Lynette Yiadom-Boakye
pictured above: In Lieu of Keen Virtue
Yiadom-Boakye’s enigmatic portraits, often of people she has imagined, invite viewers to create their own narratives and make their interpretations of who the subject is and reflect on themselves. Tate Modern recently exhibited 70 of her works in a solo show.
62. Julie Mehretu
pictured above: Stadia II
Mehretu’s abstract art is a symphony of lines and shapes, creating intense, dynamic spaces that reflect on contemporary realities.
63. Njideka Akunyili Crosby
pictured above: Dwell (Aso Ebi)
Crosby’s mixed-media work fuses elements from different cultures, reflecting her own experiences and exploring complex themes of identity.
64. Paola Pivi
pictured above: View of the exhibition “WE ARE THE ALASKAN TOURISTS” at the Arken Museum of Modern Art (Denmark) in 2020
Pivi’s art is playful and absurdly joyful, often juxtaposing incongruous elements to create surreal, whimsical scenarios.
65. Rita Ackermann
pictured above: Mama, Musketeer
Ackermann’s work is a vibrant and dynamic exploration of form and color, often featuring fragmented figures and abstracted shapes. Human-like forms seem to emerge and evolve through the piece without a distinct beginning or end.
66. Alma Berrow
pictured above: Dirty Old Martin
Berrow’s playful ceramics are still life sculptures of everyday items found around the house. Her creations are commentary on past moments of friendship and togetherness – you can see the evidence left behind of a fun moment or party.
67. Shara Hughes
pictured above: See For Yourself
Hughes’s landscape paintings, characterized by vivid colors and expressive brushwork, invite viewers into fantastical, dreamlike worlds.
68. Sophie von Hellerman
pictured above: Fairy Dance
Von Hellerman’s works, with their loose, fluid lines and translucent colors, are pastel washed canvases that convey a sense of spontaneity and freedom. Often inspired by fairytales and fables and have a sense of romanticism to them.
69. Tara Donovan
pictured above: Untitled, made from Slinky®s
Donovan’s etherial large-scale installations take materials from ordinary into extraordinary forms, exploring the transformative potential of the everyday overlooked items.
70. Rachel Kneebone
pictured above: 399 Days
Kneebone’s intricate porcelain sculptures explore themes of transformation and metamorphosis, blurring the boundaries between life and death. These romantic and dreamy sculptures are made with an almost painful attention to detail – they get better and better the closer you look. Her sculptures sit on the brink of hard and soft.
71. Ellen Berkenblit
pictured above: Vielmetter
Berkenblit’s expressive paintings, often featuring recurring motifs, explore the complexities of identity and self-representation. She projects her narrative through comic style characters she created.
72. Cristina BanBan
pictured above: Updating
BanBan’s art celebrates the human form in all its diversity, with a focus on female bodies and interpersonal relationships.
73. Johanna Bath
pictured above: Recurrent
Bath’s work is, in her own words, a souvenir and “proof that I have been there”. Her paintings are inspired by memories and time. They are a smooth blend of abstraction and figuration.
74. Jamie Gray Williams
pictured above: Tit for Tat
Williams’s mixed-media pieces are a combination of painting and drawing. Their collage-like aesthetics, reflect on the chaos and richness of contemporary life with a hint of fantasy.
75. Yulia Iosilzon
pictured above: Forest Fruit Confits
Yulia Iosilzon is a contemporary artist known for her captivating mixed-media compositions that blend intricate textures with vibrant colors, exploring themes of identity and interconnectedness
76. Sheila Hicks
pictured above: Installation view of “Escalade Beyond Chromatic Lands” at The Bass (USA) 2019
Hicks’s textile art explores the tactile potential of thread and fibers, creating pieces that are both intricate and monumental.
77. Rosie McGuinness
pictured above: a drawing by Rosie McGuinness
McGuinness’s drawings dance on the line of fashion drawing and still life drawing.
78. Monique Frydman
pictured above: In The Golden Light
Frydman’s abstract works are characterized by luminous colors and a profound sense of depth and space.
79. Cecily Brown
pictured above: Foxglove
Brown’s paintings blur the lines between figuration and abstraction, creating dynamic scenes filled with movement and color making the paintings feel alive.
80. Sonia Boyce
pictured above: Installation view of “Just For The Record” at Simon Lee gallery (London), 2022
Boyce’s multimedia work explores themes of race and gender, challenging viewers to question their own perceptions and assumptions. Part of her artistic pursuit is to look at art as a social practice.
81. Mary Kelly
pictured above: Circa 1968
Kelly’s conceptually rigorous work often engages with feminist theory, addressing issues of gender, identity, and society. She is a powerplayer in the modern feminist movement.
82. Cindy Sherman
pictured above: Untitled Film Stills #21
Sherman’s photography is a powerful exploration of identity and representation, often featuring herself in a range of personas.
83. Marlene Dumas
pictured above: Jule-die Vrou
Dumas’s figurative paintings explore themes of identity, memory, and mortality, often pushing the boundaries of representation. The expressions she paints on her subject can be quite haunting.
84. Alexis McGrigg
pictured above: Starseeds 2
McGrigg is a contemporary artist known for her intricate and vibrant mixed-media artworks that explore themes of identity and cultural heritage portrayed through ghostly figures.
85. Lubaina Himid
pictured above: Six Tailors
Himid’s work engages with themes of colonial history and diasporic identity, often using bold colors and patterns to command attention.
86. Sarah Lucas
pictured above: Nature Abhors a Vacuum
Lucas’s work often uses humor and innuendo to critique gender stereotypes, creating pieces that are both provocative and thought-provoking. Lucas is also one of the YBAs.
87. Cornelia Parker
pictured above: Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View
Parker’s sculptures and installations explore the ephemeral nature of existence, often using found objects in unexpected ways. Recently a collection of her works was exhibited at the Tate Britain in 2022.
88. Doris Salcedo
pictured above: Shibboleth installation view at Tate Modern Turbine Hall
Salcedo’s art addresses themes of trauma and loss, creating powerful memorials to victims of violence and injustice. Her installation at Tate Modern in 2007 titled “Shibboleth” (below) was a biblical reference to the Ephraimites river drawing connections to modern day immigration hardships.
89. Fiona Rae
pictured above: Untitled (yellow)
Fiona Rae is a British contemporary artist known for her dynamic and intricate paintings that blend abstraction with complex feelings of energy. Rae is another one of the members of the YBAs.
90. Jennifer Packer
pictured above: In a Room of Things Almost Like Satellites, Floating Around Him
Packer’s expressive portraits and paintings of interiors feature subjects which she typically models after her friends. The sitter is usually blissfully unaware of the viewer. Packer’s paintings explore themes of vulnerability and resilience.
91. Kim Booker
pictured above: Three Figures
Booker’s work encapsulates a unique style of portraiture, capturing the intensity of the human gaze with a stark, dramatic flair. The bodies depicted express the psychology of what it’s like to be a woman.
92. Etsu Egami
pictured above: RAINBOW-2022-W-18
Egami’s art combines traditional Japanese techniques with a contemporary approach, creating mesmerizing compositions imbued with a sense of tranquillity.
93. Helen Teede
pictured above: Come to My Private Show
Teede’s paintings are a reflection of her connection to landscape, often exploring themes of land, place, and belonging. She divides her time painting between her studios in Harare Zimbabwe – which is landlocked – and Venice Italy – completely surrounded by water. This binary contrast of land inspires her work.
94. Anna Pakosz
pictured above: Maze With No Escape
Pakosz’s paintings are an exploration of the female experience. Often depicted in slightly bizarre and vivid scenes, she touches on themes of intimacy.
95. Chloe McCarrick
pictured above: MARIA’S METAMORPHOSIS (3D cyanotype)
McCarrick’s intricate cyanotypes works explore themes of femininity and empowerment, often featuring historical women who challenged societal norms and were pioneers in science.
96. Barbara Walker
pictured above: Drawing from her brilliant series “Show and Tell” 2008-2015
Walker’s drawings and installations investigate themes of class, race, and power, often focusing on overlooked historical narratives.
97. Lisa Milroy
pictured above: Shoes
Milroy’s paintings depict everyday objects in a way that encourages viewers to reconsider their relationship to the mundane. Riding the line between stillness and movement her well known works are a gridlike arrangement of objects.
98. Annie Morris
pictured above: Stack 8, Studio Purple
Morris’s sculptures and paintings are characterized by a playful use of color and form, often exploring themes of memory and experience. Her circular stacked sculptures – in a series titled ‘Stacked’ – are heavier than her materials make them look.
99. Anna Weyant
pictured above: Loose Screw
Weyant’s paintings often feature young women in introspective moments, using light and shadow to create a sense of drama and mystery. Her paintings are influenced by the style of the Dutch Golden Age blended with contemporary imagery.
100. Beatriz Milhazes
pictured above: Douradinha Em Cinza e Marro
Milhazes’s vibrant paintings combine elements of Brazilian and European traditions, creating a visual feast of color and pattern.
101. Francois Gilot
pictured above: Autoportait Au Ciel Bleu
Gilot was renowned for her vibrant abstract paintings. Her work continues to inspire many with its timeless appeal. Sadly, Francois recently passed at the age of 101 and to honor her beautiful legacy she holds the spot of 101 on our list.
102. Mickalene Thomas
pictured above: Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe: Les trois femmes noires
Thomas’s vibrant mixed-media works combine rhinestones, acrylic, and enamel to create powerful images that challenge traditional representations of femininity and beauty.
103. Shirin Neshat
pictured above: Bonding (1995) shows Neshat holding the hands of her young son
Neshat’s powerful photography and video installations explore complex social issues of gender, power, religion, and identity.
104. Judy Chicago
pictured above: The Creation from the Birth Project
A pioneering feminist artist, Chicago’s installations, and mixed-media works focus on the role of women in history and culture.
105. Lorna Simpson
pictured above: Stereo Styles
Lorna Simpson is a renowned conceptual artist known for her thought-provoking and multi-disciplinary works that explore themes of identity politics, race, and gender focusing on marginalized groups.
106. Ghada Amer
pictured above: Portrait of a Girl on White
Born in Egypt and now based in New York, Amer’s multimedia works often incorporate embroidery, exploring themes of femininity, sexuality, and the role of women in society.
107. Barbara Kruger
pictured above: Untitled (your body is a battleground)
Barbara Kruger is a renowned contemporary artist known for her powerful and thought-provoking artworks that combine striking imagery with bold text to explore themes of consumerism, identity, and societal issues. The Supreme logo was inspired by her art.
All In All…
In the vast realm of contemporary art, these remarkable female artists are shaping dialogues, challenging norms, and creating extraordinary pieces that resonate with audiences worldwide. Their work, ranging from the deeply personal to the socio-political, demonstrates the power of creativity to question, confront, and inspire. While this list is extensive, it only scratches the surface of the sheer diversity and talent of female artists working today.
So, the next time you walk into a gallery or a museum or even scroll through an online art platform, remember these names. Seek out their work, experience their unique perspectives, and let your understanding of art – and the world – be enriched and expanded.
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