About: The Blank Pages (2014-2020) is an installation that consists of almost 200 different books. The first 97 are published by Taschen in their series Basic Art, the following hundred are printed by Ejlerskov and Lindahl and are mimicing the look of Taschens books. They all look similar on the outside but the ones not published by Taschen are filled with blank pages. The project is questioning the selection of artist in the original series which led to the unjust result of 5 women and 92 men and is correcting this fact by publishing the missing women.
The project is a collaboration between the artists EvaMarie Lindahl and Ditte Ejlerskov and is investigating the specific format and process of selection concerning the art encyclopedia. The framework for this project is the Taschen Basic Art Series, but it might as well have been any other mainstream publishing house. Lindahl and Ejlerskov entered the project by asking the following question: Can you name one woman artist published by Taschen Basic Art?
This project is a collaboration between Ditte Ejlerskov and EvaMarie Lindahl
The first edition of About: The Blank Pages is now on permanent display at the Museu de Arte de São Paulo
Articles:
About the Blank Pages on EuroNews in Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese
(danish) Farvel till direktøren a review at Information by Pernille Albrethsen (pdf)
(danish) Det er svært ikke at blive bare en lille smule misundelig a review at Information by Trine Ross (pdf)
(danish) ’Kvinder i opbrud’ lover godt for både Arkens fremtid og for nye måder at se på det kvindelige a review at Information by Maria Kjær Themsen (pdf)
(danish) Kønsdebatten udstillet: Skal kvinder virkelig være nøgne for at blive udstillet på et museum? a review at Avisen Danmark by Lisbeth Kirstine Helbo Hansen (pdf)
(english) Women and Change a catalogue published by ARKEN Museum for Moderne Kunst, ISBN: 978-87-78751-461
(danish) Kvinder i opbrud a catalogue published by ARKEN Museum for Moderne Kunst, ISBN: 978-87-78751-454
(danish) Smil kun hvis du vil a review at Kunstkritikk by Stense Andrea Lind-Valdan (pdf)
(danish) 5 stjerner: De bliver nappet i skridtet af tøjklemmer, de smadrer biler, er glatbarberede og morfer sig sammen med deres fædre a review at Berlingske by Birgitte Ellemann Höeg (pdf)
(english) Where are the Women?, New Carlsberg Foundation about the acquisition of About: The Blank Pages for the Collection of Arken Museum of Modern Art.
(english) CHART De-centred reader, a catalogue for CHART art fair 2020, text by David Risley
(english) Writing on the Museu de Arte de São Paulo’s acquisition of About: The Blank Pages: Artnews and Arte Aldia
(english) Artwork of the Week: About: The Blank Pages, a google translated article from Portuguese to English
(english) Wikipedia better equipped to deal with systemic bias than traditional publishers, The Signpost, editorial
(swedish) Vi står bakom kulisserna, Julia Holst för Nöjesguiden (pdf)
(swedish) Fyra riktningar – fyra viljor, Martin Hägg för Omkonst (pdf)
(swedish) Skilda uttryck när fyra konstnärer delar plats, Pernilla Ekdahl för Skånskan
(swedish) Om det mest intressanta 2014, av Thomas Millroth (pdf)
(swedish) Storverk av systerskapet, Fredrik Svensk för Aftonbladet (pdf)
(swedish) Feministiskt basläger, Mikael Olofsson för Göteborgsposten
(swedish) Bilden av ett systerskap, Inger Landström för Borås Tidning (pdf)
(swedish) Syster på Borås Konstmuseum, Sara Arvidsson för Konsten.net (pdf)
(swedish) Systerskap, samarbete, skapande, Inger Melin för Borås Tidning (pdf)
(swedish) Motbilder till den manliga konsthistorien, Tobias Magnusson för Göteborgs Fria Tidning (pdf)
(swedish) Blanka sidor blir viktig symbol, Linda Nihlén för Ystad Allehanda (pdf)
(english) Whatever happened to the sisterhood by Jennifer Allen for Mousse Magazine
(swedish) Bara fem kvinnor i konsthistorien? David Richter för Kulturnytt i Sveriges Radio (pdf)
(english) Taschen under fire, Amalie Kristine Frederiksen in Kunstkritikk (pdf)
(danish) Taschen under anklage, Amalie Kristine Frederiksen för Kunstkritikk (pdf)
(english) Feminist history in the making at Malmö Konsthall, Culture Nordic
(swedish) På jakt efter kvinnorna -som borde finnas, Sara Berg för Kvällsposten (pdf)
(swedish) Konsthistoriens blanka sidor, Veronica Olofsson för ETC Helg
(swedish) Blanka böcker i protest mot enkönad konsthistoria, av Jenny Wickberg för ETC Malmö (pdf)
(swedish) Blanka sidor visar brist i konsthistorien, Emma Thörnkvist för Sydsvenskan (pdf)
(swedish) Konstens bortglömda kvinnor, av Emma Lundberg för Fria Tidningen Skåne (pdf)
(swedish) Berättelsen om konstens kvinnor skrivs underifrån, Linda Fagerström i SR om ett tillhörande edit-a-thon
More information:
(english) The complete list of the missing artists
(english) The e-mail sent to Taschen
Exhibition schedule:
2022 February 5 – August 14 Women and Change at ARKEN Museum of Modern Art
2020 September 1 – September 12, Time for Change, SPECTA, Copenhagen, DK
2020 August 28 – August 30, CHART De-centred at SPECTA, Copenhagen, DK
2019 August 23 – November 17, Museu de Arte de São Paulo, BRA
2015 June 13 – November 15, Kvinnohistoriskt museum
2015 April 2 – 31 May, Kristianstad Konsthall
2014 October 18 – January 18, Borås Konstmuseum
2014 June 22 – September 15, The Art Museum In Ystad
2014 April 24 – June 15, Malmö Konsthall
In the collection of:
Museu de Arte de São Paulo
Arken Museum of Modern Art
Malmö Art Museum
This e-mail was be sent to Taschen and Petra Lamers-Schütze on the opening of the exhibition:
FROM: Ditte Ejlerskov, EvaMarie Lindahl
TO: Petra Lamers-Schütze, Taschen
SUBJECT: About: The Blank Pages
Dear Dr. Petra Lamers-Schütze, or whom it may concern involved with Taschen’s Basic Art Series,
In March 2010 we had a conversation over the phone about Taschen’s unequal selection of artists for the Basic Art Series. You asked if we were able to mention any female artists that we thought were missing. We mentioned a few that you did not acknowledge as potential candidates for Taschen’s version of art history. We hereby hand over our entire compilation of the nearly 100 missing female artists that we consider qualify for the Basic Art Series alongside the 92 men and 5 women, already published.
It took us almost four years to complete your request, since we wanted to make sure that the facts provided are adequate and useful to you. Our purpose is to highlight the relevance of equality at all levels of art history. We are willing to argue that “misspellings”, wherever they appear, are important to pay attention to and correct.
You claim that you lack women in art history to pick from. However, you have to admit that Cindy Sherman, Agnes Martin, Louise Bourgeois and Artemisia Gentileschi are not exactly obscure artists. These are of course added to our list. To illustrate our work we decided to introduce all the missing book covers in an installation, where all artists are displayed with a glossy front cover, both the published and the unpublished, both the men and the women, some unpublished and therefore not yet written. We are now waiting for your expertise to fill the blank pages with content.
In close communication with artists, scholars, art historians, art critics and librarians, the Basic Art Series is now checked for errors and we hereby send the edited list back to you for correction.
With hope of a future collaboration.
Sincerely,
Ditte Ejlerskov & EvaMarie Lindahl
