The Guardian has today (Monday 18 July) launched The Great Women’s Art Bulletin – a new fortnightly column from art historian and broadcaster, Katy Hessel. In each instalment, Katy will write about an artwork made by a woman that speaks to the current news agenda.
The first column looks at Agnes Denes’ Wheatfield: A Confrontation and what it says about our heating planet. Forty years ago, Denes grew two acres of wheat on a landfill site by Wall Street in Manhattan, transforming the wasteland into a golden wheatfield. As Katy reevaluates in her column, this spectacular artwork spoke volumes about the way land has been misappropriated for profit rather than to the benefit of the world’s ecology, contributing to dangerously rising temperatures such as those we are experiencing in cities across the UK this week.
Katy Hessel said:
“I am so excited to be starting The Great Women’s Art Bulletin. This new fortnightly column will explore key issues of our time through the lens of pioneering work by women artists. I can’t wait to delve into some of the most important news stories through the prism of these artworks while also celebrating the life and work of these often overlooked figures.”
Alex Needham, arts editor, Guardian News & Media said:
“I’m delighted that Katy will be writing regularly for the Guardian. Her column will not only foreground brilliant art by women, but demonstrate its ongoing relevance and connection to the world today, offering an inspiring new perspective for Guardian readers.”
Katy runs The Great Women Artists podcast and Instagram account, while her book The Story Of Art Without Men will be published in September.
Notes to editors
About Guardian News & Media
Guardian News & Media (GNM) publishes theguardian.com, one of the world’s leading English-language news websites. Traffic from outside of the UK now represents around two-thirds of the Guardian’s total digital audience. In the UK, GNM publishes the Guardian newspaper six days a week, first published in 1821, and the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper, The Observer.
