Piscina: the trajectory of a platform for women artists

In 2017, there was a need to professionalize the way we presented ourselves, and also to delve deeper into the works developed by the artists. Thus, we created a new website, which featured quarterly curatorships, which we called “Fôlego” [Breath] and which were accompanied by a text of our authorship. There was also the blog, in which the idea was to deepen some of the content. It was through the blog that we started to visit artists’ studios.

Accustomed to acting almost exclusively in the virtual environment, a major milestone in the history of the platform was our first physical event. The first edition of “Mergulho da Piscina” [A Dive in the Pool] took place between November 27 and December 1, 2019 at CC.espaço, in São Paulo.

In collaboration with the curator and researcher Ana C. Roman, we held two face-to-face meetings and a group exhibition. At the first meeting, “Acting in a network – collectives and art platform”, we invited three collectives and art platforms to present their work and talk about the possibilities of artists and collectives acting together in a network. The invited collectives were YVY Mulheres da Imagem, Trovoa and Coletivo Amapoa.

On the second day, we brought together artists and curators to talk about the theme “Ways to create – artistic making and art exhibition in the age of instagram” and to reflect on their production and the influence of social networks in their creative processes. The invited artists were Alice Yura, Luisa Callegari, Jade Marra and Vitória Cribb, who had their works commented by curators Carollina Lauriano and Nathália Lavigne.

Closing the “Dives”, we present the collective exhibition “Ânima”, which brought together works by ten female artists: Anaïs Karenin, Angela Od, Brisa Noronha, Camila Fontenele, Daniela Paoliello, Gabriella Garcia, Heloisa Hariadne, Fernanda Vallois and Vitória Cribb.

This first physical event was the result of a movement to expand the platform, which ceased to occupy a passive place in relation to the artists – Piscina previously only divulged the work of female artists who reached out themselves and sent in their portfolios – to occupy a place more active in researching and publicizing the work of women artists.

During the pandemic, we saw an opportunity to expand our virtual platform to different formats. I carried out a series of lives and interviews with artists, who became part of a new section of the website – Profile –, in which, in addition to presenting their works, the artists can talk about their trajectories, main influences and the most important facts of their careers. This year we also made an open call to post works during the quarantine on our Instagram, and we wrote about some of them in the series of posts Arte na Quarantena [Art During Quarantine].

With the participation in commercial events – as was the case with the SP-Foto Viewing Room, in 2020 – we realized that there were things in our working term that needed to be adjusted, taking into account the peculiarities of each situation. As our performance has always been via the internet, it is natural that when we hold an event outside the digital context, different demands than what we are used to arise. Issues of production of work, infrastructure and transportation end up being posed, and a piece that is solved in a certain way on the internet presents different challenges when it migrates to the physical.

Another thing we noticed is that young artists – in this case, all the artists we work with – have practically grown up with the internet and have already become accustomed to a more autonomous rhythm, characteristic of this generation. So the artist herself seeks to solve everything: photograph her own work, post on social networks, write about her own work, make the portfolio website, talk to potential clients who reach out, etc. We know that putting yourself as an artist is, in itself, a lot of work. So we try to facilitate this dynamic taking on, for example, the roles of talking to customers who get in touch through instagram, centralizing the information of the works, creating a portfolio and, if a sale takes place, we take care of the production of the work, transportation, certificates, etc. There is a whole succession of demands and activities that, when carried out by the artist alone, leave very little time left for them to actually work on their art.

Thus, we do not place ourselves as a conventional gallery, and we do not offer the same things that a conventional gallery offers its artists. But, it is with the artists that we build, together, a model that makes sense for all involved and helps in the development of their careers as artists. And, working together, we continue to learn constantly, adapting to the needs and specificities of each artist.

Creating a platform for women artists was relatively new in 2015. But if you consider that fifty years ago Linda Nochlin was writing the essay “Why have there been no great women artists?” (1971), questioning the notion of male genius of the great masters, we see how long it took for this discussion to cross the academic world to become something common in the mainstream. And when we talk about different feminisms and the notion that women experience oppression in different degrees according to their class, race, sexuality, religion and physical abilities, we realize how much we still need to advance.

There is still much to be done and there are still many spaces to be occupied by women, but I feel optimistic. A lot has changed since 2015 and, although we are experiencing a challenging moment in different areas, it is possible to see an evolution and the sedimentation of these issues in a place of common sense. And, for me, the role of a platform like Piscina today is not only regarding paving the way, but also sedimenting, and create a solid ground for next generations to come.