This book delves deep into data that lays bare the stark gender disparities within Australia's visual arts sector, spotlighting the pioneering CoUNTess project and its profound impact. Authored with incisive wit by Melinda Rackham and Elvis Richardson, CoUNTess: Spoiling Illusions Since 2008 illuminates the lives of women artists, writers, and academics navigating a landscape where systemic biases persist.

With a blend of statistical analysis and feminist theory, the book scrutinizes how educational pathways, institutional practices of galleries and museums, art awards, publications, curatorial decisions, and patronage perpetuate inequalities. From its origins as the cheeky CoUNTess Blog to its current incarnation as the collaborative Countess.Report collective, this work serves as a critical call to action for transformative change in the art world.

In documenting decades of data and cultural critique, this book challenges the status quo and offers a roadmap for dismantling barriers that hinder women's advancement and recognition in contemporary art.

Read the review of CoUNTess: Spoiling Illusions Since 2008 by Jane O'Sullivan at artguide.com.au

Images courtesy of Countess.Report.