It’s no secret that the art world has long been plagued by glaring gender disparity. In the 1970s, artists like Judy Chicago, Ana Mendieta, and others became so fed up with exclusion that they deliberately chose to work outside the male-dominated mainstream. They launched feminist art movements, built women-only spaces, and charted their own paths, placing women’s voices and creativity at the center.
But that was more than 50 years ago, and if you look at the numbers today, progress has been painfully slow. Between 2008 and 2020, only 15% of the work shown at major museum institutions was created by females. The picture is even bleaker at auction; a 2022 report found that female artists account for only 3% of all auction sales. For Black American women, that figure was a mere 0.1% of all sales. And in galleries? As recently as last year, works by female artists accounted for only 39% of global sales.
And these stats don’t even touch plenty of other metrics that matter, such as Queer and Latino artists, trans and elderly artists, artists who have fled persecution, the list goes on. Let’s say it loud and clear: we’re far from parity. In 2025, the art world is still run by an elite few—top curators, institutions, and blue-chip galleries, whose decisions have major ripple effects, changing what critics and collectors deem “good,” “valuable,” and worthy of reviewing and investing in. As we know from the art history cannon, so many talented creative voices go unheard; their boundary-pushing works left to collect dust in attics and crowded storage units.
Diversity in voice, experience, and background means diversity in creative expression, and who wants a gallery wall featuring 12 works in the same predictable style?
But all this said, there is hope. Across the globe, inclusive, cross-disciplinary galleries are emerging, and even more curators are dismantling the chain-link fence that has long kept women—and other marginalized—outside. In New York alone, Hall Rockefeller is educating women around the benefits of investing in female artists; curator Ebony Haynes is supporting Black students by offering free, professional artist workshops, and Hannah Traore’s Manhattan gallery space is making underrepresented artists feel genuinely seen and respected.
These women are proving that change is possible and necessary. But at Bond & Grace, we’re wholly aware that nothing changes overnight. Making the art world more accessible will involve more than just good intentions; it will take structural shifts and policy change, and of course, federal investment in the arts, which is being stripped away before our eyes under the current administration.
So while we won’t pretend to have all the answers—and we may not be changing political will—we can tell you what we are doing: supporting emerging artists (overwhelmingly female), prioritizing equity, transparency, and critical conversation, and working toward a more inclusive art world. Sometimes, taking the first step is enough.
So, What Are We Doing About It at Bond & Grace? We’re championing women and diverse voices by positioning their work with the credibility it deserves. Nearly 70% of our artists identify as women, and over 40% come from historically underrepresented backgrounds. By publishing artist’s work in our collectible Art Novels—and selling it online to new audiences—we’re providing visibility and access to the art market, placing emerging and overlooked artists on equal footing with established names. Just as importantly, we’re encouraging artists to think critically and engage with cultural conversations, using classic literature as a living dialogue. Blending artistic autonomy, cultural critique, and lasting visibility, our model is unlike anything else in the art world today.
Here’s how we’re making it happen:
1. We Champion Women and Diverse Voices - 69% of our artists identify as women, and over 40% come from historically underrepresented backgrounds—including artists of color, LGBTQ+ artists, and those from regions that have traditionally had limited access to the global art market. This includes artists based in Kenya, Nigeria, India, and South Africa, where structural inequities have historically limited visibility in Western institutions.
2. We Empower Emerging Talent - As curators, we are intentional in our artist selection process for each Art Novel, overwhelmingly working with artists without major gallery representation, institutional recognition, or prior solo shows.
3. We Provide Upfront Compensation: From the moment an artist joins us, we offer a material stipend and an upfront advance (on top of their share of sales), so they’re supported well before their work reaches the market.
4. We Reclaim Western Narratives - We invite artists of all backgrounds to respond to Western literary classics not as revisionist history, but as a creative act of reclaiming space, reasserting voice, and inserting personal or cultural truths into the canon.
5. We Offer Career-Building Credibility - Being published in our Art Novels is a huge deal for many emerging artists because it enhances professional legitimacy. Just as writers benefit from bylines, artists benefit from being published in a well-designed, widely circulated volume, especially one curated with care.
6. We Position Artists as Thought Leaders - By presenting our artists’ work and literary interpretations alongside that of expert literary scholars, we position our artists as cultural thought leaders whose wide-ranging perspectives are equal in value and voice to PhD level scholars.
7. We Celebrate Creative Autonomy - Artists are commissioned to respond to classic literature but given creative freedom to be themselves. The literature is a prompt, not a constraint, honoring artistic autonomy.
8. We Blend Ideas and Disciplines - Artists are chosen for their ability to fuse disciplines. With interests ranging from neuroscience to sustainability to classical painting, Bond & Grace artists are working at the intersection of contemporary art, scholarly research, and new media.
9. We Engage Artists in Cultural Dialogue - Every Art Novel pairs a classic text with scholarship on modern critical issues (such as climate, migration, race, gender, mental health, etc.), creating a cultural dialogue between then and now, with art at the center.
10. We Provide Lasting Visibility & Access to New Collectors - Instead of a 4-week gallery show, artists’ work lives on in beautifully produced books that are collected, shared, and re-read over time, providing long-term visibility and exposure. Our books reach literary lovers, cultural collectors, and new art audiences beyond the typical gallery-goer, offering artists new markets and networks.
11. We Encourage Unconventional Mediums - Artists are encouraged to experiment with diverse, unconventional mediums. From Barbara Wildenboer’s hand-cut paper constructions to Stavros Kotsakis’ LED light sculptures, we often see our artists seizing the opportunity to push the boundaries of their practice, finding themselves inspired in unexpected ways.
12. Artist Stories Are Always at the Forefront - When we incorporate artwork into our commercial products, we ensure each artist’s voice is centered and credited on the packaging—showcasing their talent not just as a decoration or pattern, but as core to the product itself.
Interested in learning more? Be sure to follow @thegallerybg, our Instagram page dedicated to showcasing the Bond & Grace Art Collections, championing emerging artists’ voices, and working at the intersection of aesthetic and intellectual curiosity. Then, on November 1, we’ll debut The Great Gatsby Art Collection, where shadow, illusion, and American myth collide...
Sources:
The Art Basel & UBS Survey of Global Collecting 2024 by Arts Economics
Can Matronage Shift the Art World’s Gender Imbalance? Harper's Bazaar
Meet 5 Trailblazing Women Changing the Art World, Galerie Magazine
Get the Facts, National Museum of Women in the Arts
