Martin Firrell
Women Make Up
Half the Population
2019
Liv Garfield
, Chief Executive of the water company Severn Trent, is the youngest woman ever to lead a FTSE 100 company.

She believes it is inevitable that women will rise to senior positions as long as recruitment is based on merit alone.
At Severn Trent the first stages of recruitment exclude information about applicants' backgrounds so that each shortlist is drawn up on merit alone. Since women make up half the population, logic says 50% of the time, the right person for the job will be a woman.

The works in this series include an image of the sculpture
Venus de Vienne
(Aphrodite bathing) from the cover of
Pallas
, a progressive arts magazine published in Buenos Aires in 1912. Three folds in the flesh of Aphrodite's abdomen create a realistic impression of a woman rather than a representation of femininity distorted and idealised by the
male gaze
.

This artwork is part of socialart.work, a mass public art project calling for greater social justice.

It aims to create debate about power and gender, women's equality and masculinity, alternative forms of economic and social organisation, black power, and solidarity between people from different backgrounds and ethnicities.

It includes posters, publications and events supported in 2018-19 by the artist's residency with leading Out of Home media company
Clear Channel UK.
Part Of
Power and Gender / Women
Medium
Digital billboard
Displayed
UK, January 2019
Artwork
800 x 400px 72dpi RGB jpeg
Download
Hi-res image
Archive
176 items
Acknowledgement
Venus de Vienne / Pallas No. 2
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes Buenos Aires
Residency
Artist in Residence, Clear Channel UK
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