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Art Books and Equity: One Library at a Time

  • Catherine Wynne-Paton
  • Apr 4
  • 2 min read

We have now taken down the IMPOSURE exhibition at Artlandish in Hereford where I  showed my piece 49:51 Male stacks, Female gaps: Inequality in Artist books in Libraries.


A group of four people around a black and white text projection on a wall. The two figures on the outside are standing and the two in the middle are crouched and sat on the wooden floor. The woman in a red jumper is looking at the woman next to her, who has a multi coloured lightning flash on her jumper. On the top right is a giant bunny ear, below that a giant eye and at the bottom half of its lips. There is a bright spotlight at the top of the frame.

Four of the six IMPOSURE members in front of the vintage projection of our manifesto , L to R Liz Morison, Rebecca Farkas, myself and Vivian Barraclough.


This installation displayed 51 books on female, 49 about male and 18 on individual global majority artists.  This selection is intended to be representative of the population at the last census in 2021.  Some books were real, many of them borrowed and others, placeholder books, were made out of cardboard.



A grey imitation book is on a table in the foreground, with an image of a dog as a judge. Behind there is an exhibition space, immediately behind in the centre is metal rack shelving full of both real and cardboard books.

My installation '49:51...'with the placeholder book for artist Jack Ky Tan in the foreground.


I was lucky to be at the front of the empty shop we were occupying and so created a reading space with rainbow rug, directors chair, tables and lamp.  The bookcase was made from ex-Hereford museum Dexion shelving, so I could choose exactly the height of shelves and adjust easily to fit hefty artist monographs.



Part of a room, with book shelf to the right, a small table on a rainbow rug in the lower half, a beige chair in the back left and writing table with lamp behind the bookshelf on the right. There is bright sunlight streaming across the space.

My installation at the front of the IMPOSURE exhibition


When I’m looking at library shelves at the selection of visual artists represented I am finding it is common to have 90% or more of monographs on male artists and under 10% on individual female artists.  I don’t see why this should be the case.


In the exhibition I had great conversations with many visitors and lots of interest.



A exhibition gallery room full of people. Metal bookshelf in the foreground with a couple looking at it and the books and a woman with glasses and red hair, red jumper and black jeans leaning on the bookshelf and about to talk.
At the opening of the show on Friday 21st March 2025 in Maylord Orchard, Hereford, UK.

I’m now beginning to select the female artists to source books for my local library in Abergavenny, which has 37 books on male artists and 3 on female.  I’ll select another 3 male visual artists, and 40 female and then I can start seeking the books to make Abergavenny the first library in the UK (research is needed to check this) to have an equal number of male and female artists represented in their stocks.


Libraries achieving gender parity could even earn special accreditation of 50/50 designation for visual arts, making them publicly recognised leaders in equitable representation.

 
 
 

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