INSPIRATION

Market places are visually dynamic spaces that offer a rich tapestry of colour, movement, and cultural interactions that have long inspired artists, especially painters. However, within the sub-genre of market scene painting, a field largely dominated by male artists, the portrayal of women has been problematic. Women have been frequently depicted according to prevailing artistic norms and objectified roles, while their economic agency and diverse market-related occupations have also been portrayed from a male-centered perspective. This study therefore, aimed to draw from the framework of Feminist Visual Culture interrogated the traditional ways of ‘seeing’ and challenged the male-dominated gaze that has historically shaped visual representation of women in market scene paintings. This study employed an exploratory design guided by critical theory and the MulveyHooks visual culture framework, which examined how women are represented in visual culture and how they can resist objectification. Combining visual analysis with contextual critique, the research examined stylistic paintings of women’s activities in market places in order to explore how gender roles and economic labour should be depicted and understood in the imagery of Benin City’s market places. The study revealed that it is possible to produce paintings that foreground women’s economic agency and depict them in dignified roles as human beings whose contributions cannot be trivialized. It also showed that the textured effects achieved through the palette knife technique can enhance the meaning and context of the artwork. The research advocates for more gender-balanced paintings that highlight women’s vital contributions to the economic and social development of the nation.