Women and the art world – it has never been a very happy marriage. Change is happening, but it’s slow and painful. Men have always held the scepter, and the art world is nothing more than a reflection of society itself.

In this work, I present—through the metaphor of a football team—the eleven most frequently collected artists in museums worldwide.
It is telling, and deeply disheartening, that not a single woman makes the cut.

To be fair, Picasso and Kahlo actually appear in the global top 11, but copyright and trademark law prevent me from using their names in a commercial context—which a gallery setting still is. Removing them and shifting the line-up changes nothing about the bigger picture.

Taking it a step further means bringing the shirts into retail. As many shirts for female artists as for male ones—so as not to fall into the same trap again. But stop someone in the street and ask them to name a female artist, and the silence is deafening. Commercially, it’s not a safe bet to print a woman’s name on a shirt, unless people care enough about the fate of women in the (art) world and want to break the glass ceiling. In that case, one should wear a woman artist’s shirt with pride—carrying her name, her fight, and her vision. That is the real reason to buy.

Yet again, artists run into the barrier of copyright and trademark restrictions. There are countless fascinating artists, male and female, but just as many names vanish if you want to stay out of court.

Each shirt in this project is part of a limited edition, and every single one is an artwork in itself. A QR code allows the buyer to access the certificate of authenticity and to verify its unique place in the series.

There is also a more luxurious, limited-edition line, available in museum shops and concept stores.

Further collaborations with other artists for future collections are already planned—slowly building toward a bold and meaningful series.