It’s been almost forty years since art collective, the Guerrilla Girls, began plastering their posters of large block letters and teeth-baring gorilla masks around New York City. Their bold designs and unapologetic statements drew attention to the fact that of all modern art on display in New York’s galleries and museums, less than five percent were by female artists.
Fast forward to today and the representation and celebration of female artists has much improved in many areas across the world, not least in the UK. In honour of Women’s History Month, I went in search of female representation within modern art at Southampton City Art Gallery.
Open since 1939, the gallery boasts an impressive art-deco grand hall with artworks by big names including L.S. Lowry and David Hockney. The gallery’s current exhibition, ‘From the Renaissance to the Present Day: Highlights from Southampton’s Collection’, which is expected to run until early Autumn, showcases a small selection of some of the most impressive pieces from the gallery’s stock of over five thousand artworks.
The modern art selection in the exhibition is comprised of works ranging in medium from paint, ceramic, textile, and film. Of the forty artworks, over half are by female artists. These include Turner Prize nominees Helen Chadwick and Fiona Rae.
Other prominent works on display include the painting Rivières Tièdes by British-Indian artist, Ithell Colquhoun, who was one of very few recognised British Surrealist artists of her time.
With themes exploring sexuality and community as well as examples of challenging stereotypes of a woman’s place in the home, the exhibition is a great example of women’s voices being heard through art.
Southampton City Art Gallery is open Monday to Friday from 10am-3pm, and Saturday 10am-5pm, they are closed on Sundays. Admission is free of charge.
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