Natalie Thomas and the Women's Art Register: Finding the Field

• Amelia Winata

It is no secret that Natalie Thomas, AKA Natty Solo is, quote, “bored of white men.” The Melbourne artist who is, perhaps, best known for her blog Natty Solo and for being one half of the collaborative duo Nat & Ali has recently been on the offensive against the National Gallery of Victoria's majority male exhibition history. She has most memorably captured this fact with the slogan #cockfest. She isn't wrong, of course. And a recent attempt to represent women with three solo exhibitions—Del Kathryn Barton, Louise Paramor and Helen Maudsley—did more to highlight the tokenistic nature of the NGV's efforts to be more inclusive (the common questions being: how are these women who are mid- and late-career only now being recognised by the NGV? And where were the Aboriginal, trans, non-binary women?). In many ways, this conversation is now boring. The NGV offers an abundance of low-hanging fruit. But, on the other hand, an ongoing critique of the institution is necessary in order to induce change.