Trying to Make It as a Woman in the Arts? You Need Marguerite

Joanna Payne is on a mission to turn the art world’s old boys’ club into a new girls’ network

Historically, women in art have all-too-often been typecast as gallerinas; well-coiffed leggy blondes who sit in the gallery greeting rich collectors with a smile and an air kiss, leaving the real work to the men. But in the past decade, a global wave of boss women have been rising to the top of the art world, and it’s about goddamn time.

One of the most inspiring is Joanna Payne, the founder of a new women-only network, Marguerite. Marguerite is quickly creating a buzz, establishing a ‘girls’ club’ within the ‘boys’ club’ that is the art world. Only two years in, the network has recently announced a partnership with the online store hailing from the folk behind Net-A-Porter, The Outnet; plus delivered a number of ‘Snappy Salons’ as part of Uniqlo Tate Lates at the Tate Modern; and held a number of cocktail-fuelled intimate sit downs with the art world’s most successful women, including the first female director of the Tate Modern, Frances Morris and Victoria Siddall, director of Frieze Art Fairs.

I sat down with Payne to discover how and why she’s blazing such a bright trail as an art leader and mentor.

Above: Joanna Payne (R) with Marguerite, Holly Whittaker shot by Rankin for a Marguerite Event

What prompted you to start Marguerite?
I’d love to say that there was a grand plan back in January 2015 but Marguerite actually started as a very casual thing in my living room with some bottles of prosecco and supermarket party food…! My manager at Frieze, Kristina McLean, used to be part of a group for women in the arts and would always come into the office buzzing with ideas from conversations she’d had with the wonderful women she’d met the night before.

I thought it would be great to set up something similar with my own friends – almost like a bi-monthly ‘book club’ type event in different people’s houses (without the books) – where all of the amazing women I knew working across the arts could meet, share ideas and in turn build their careers in the art world. There can be a lot of competitiveness between women working in the arts but I’ve personally been helped so much by the genuine friendships I’ve made with women in the field and wanted to do something to encourage this positive culture of seeing other women as allies as opposed to competition.

Above: Marguerite Presents: Snappy Salons on Women in the Arts – part of the February 2017 Uniqlo Tate Lates at Tate Modern. Image by Dunja Opalko

What has been the highlight so far?
Earlier this year we were invited to host a huge event at Tate Modern as part of the February edition of Uniqlo Tate Lates, which celebrated women in the arts.

The event we put on was such a mammoth effort which involved so many people, from friends who gave their evenings and weekends to help pack thousands of boxes of personalised Marguerite M&Ms; to our members who helped on the night; to the incredible artists, thinkers, journalists and entrepreneurs who spoke for us; to the hundreds of people who attended.

We were absolutely blown away by the huge numbers who came down to support us and it was so great to be able to do something where we could share what we do with so many people. It felt like such a victory once it was over!

Tell us more about your career before Marguerite…
I began my career with a three-month internship at Whitechapel Gallery in their Development department. Shortly after this, I was lucky enough to land my first job in the VIP team at Frieze Art Fair, which was my lifelong dream at the time. I spent four very happy years at Frieze before becoming Head of VIP Relations at Photo London at the end of 2014.

Marguerite began while I was still at Photo London, but by summer 2016, the club had become so popular that I felt it required my full attention in order to grow. Taking the plunge into self-employment was a pretty daunting prospect at the time but I truly believed in the project and knew I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t give it my best shot.

Above: Bourgeoisie performing at the Marguerite Christmas Party 2016 at House of Voltaire. Image by Dunja Opalko

Which other art world female icons do you admire?
Marguerite “Peggy” Guggenheim [the inspiration behind the club’s name] was such an amazingly inspirational woman in the way that she lived and breathed art and championed young artists – not to mention the fact that she had a flipping good time whilst she was at it! She famously had over a thousand lovers and used to sunbathe in the nude on the roof of her Venetian palazzo, which I think is just so glam. And those glasses! What a woman…

Some other seriously impressive women who never fail to inspire me are Valeria Napoleone, patron of female artists and Founder of Valeria Napoleone XX, Victoria Siddall, Director of Frieze Fairs and Brita Fernandez-Schmidt, Executive Director of Women for Women International.

Is the art world still a boys’ club, or are things changing?
Things are certainly changing. There has been a real rise in women taking Director level positions over the past few years: Frances Morris, Maria Balshaw, Yana Peel, Victoria Siddall, to name but a few.

But Hannah Ellis-Peterson’s recent piece in The Guardian on ‘How the art world airbrushed female artists from history’ points out that female artists account for just 4% of the National Gallery of Scotland’s collection; 20% of the Whitworth Manchester’s and 35% of Tate Modern’s collections and only 33% of the artists representing Britain at the Venice Biennale over the past decade have been women.

So whilst there’s no denying that these women are knocking it out of the park, there are also a huge number of less visible women who feel held back because of their gender – whether this be a lacking in confidence compared to their male counterparts, the pay gap (which is often a knock on effect from the lack in confidence!), the inequality between maternity and paternity leave or so much more.

Despite things having certainly come a long way, the World Economic Forum predicts that the gender gap won’t close entirely until 2186. We still have a very long way to go!

Above: Marguerite Event at SHOWstudio hosted by Image-Maker Nick Knight. Image by Dunja Opalko

Who are the most exciting female artists working today?
We have a Marguerite event lined up later this month with one of my absolute favourite female artists, Celia Hempton. You might have seen her beautiful technicolour paintings of penis’ and buttocks at Southard Reid’s stand at Frieze London last year. Her work is so beautifully sensual and I love the thought of the stories and situations behind them.

What’s next?
In late summer this year we will be introducing a new membership type named ‘Guggenheim Jeune’ which will be aimed at women who are still students or just starting out in their careers. The idea is that current members of Marguerite who are already established in their careers will host events for the members of Guggenheim Jeune with the view to expose them to the breadth of opportunities available and introduce them to a ready-made network of likeminded friends to explore London’s art world with – something I would have absolutely loved when I’d just moved to London after uni.

What message do you have for young women just entering the art world?
“If you don’t ask, you don’t get.” The absolute worst outcome is that you’re told “no”, and the more likely one is that you get what you want and a helluva lotta respect for asking for it.

Above: Marguerite with Sam Thorne, Director of Nottingham Contemporary for a Marguerite Event. Image by Holly Whittaker