The Denver Art Museum is hosting "Women of Abstract Expressionism," the first major museum exhibition dedicated exclusively to female painters of the movement. Curated by Gwen Chanzit, the show features over 50 works by artists including Helen Frankenthaler, Jay DeFeo, Elaine de Kooning, and Mary Abbott. The exhibition highlights how these women were integral to the first internationally influential American art movement but were historically sidelined in favor of male peers like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning.
This exhibition represents a significant shift in art historical discourse, aiming to correct decades of gender bias in institutional collections and textbooks. By showcasing both East and West Coast artists, the project reveals that while female painters in the Bay Area often found more acceptance than those in New York, both groups have been largely excluded from the canon. The show seeks to ensure these artists are permanently woven into the fabric of the discussion rather than treated as historical footnotes.