Who Are You Here To See?

This painting by artist and data journalist Mona Chalabi illustrates a 2019 study published by mathematics professor Chad Topaz and his colleagues. The study found that men make up 88% of major US art museum collections—while women make up just 12%. “My job is to take a story and to zoom out and provide context for readers. And the thing that excites me about data is just the scale of it. Data gives you a scale. It gives you a new frame of understanding.” — Mona Chalabi