Thursday, April 24, 2014

Underexposed: Female Artists and the Medium of Print

Underexposed: Female Artists and the Medium of Print is an exhibition on a subject close to my heart, the importance of female printmakers, and the relative neglect their art still receives. Regular readers of this blog will remember my posts on artists such as Angèle Delasalle, Ghislaine de Menten de Horne, Käthe Kollwitz, Laura Malclès-Masereel, Lill Tschudi, Norbertine Bresslern-Roth, Terry Haass, Tirzah Garwood (Ravilious), and others. Underexposed will run from 16 May to 19 June at Studio 3 Gallery, University of Kent School of Arts, Canterbury, with an associated programme of free lectures. It has been curated by Frances Chiverton and Lynne Dickens, and you can find out more about it here. I would reproduce the beautiful poster for the show, but I can't work out how to do so. Among the many artists included are Alison Wilding, Anne Desmet, Barbara Hepworth, Berthe Morisot (about whom I have a post-in-the-making), Bridget Riley, Cornelia Parker, Elisabeth Frink, Leonora Carrington, Louise Bourgeois, Paula Rego, Rose Hilton, Sandra Blow, Sarah Lucas, Sonia Delaunay, and Tracey Emin.

Dorothea Tanning (1910-2012), La Marée 5
Etching with aquatint, 1970

Dorothea Tanning, Untitled (En chair et en or)
Lithograph, 1975

Joan Mitchell (1925-1992), Untitled (Fresh Air School)
Lithograph, 1972

Gwen Raverat (1885-1957), The River Darent
Wood engraving, 1931

Gwen Raverat, The River Ver
Wood engraving, 1931

I have just waved goodbye to the five prints I am lending to this exciting show. They show a very varied range of female art, from Dorothea Tanning's transgressively sexualised La Marée and Untitled (En chair et en or) to Gwen Raverat's idyllic views of the English rivers of the Darent (in Kent) and the Ver (in Hertfordshire), via Joan Mitchell's cool and collected spatial abstraction for Fresh Air School. I am very pleased that these prints will take their place on the walls of Studio 3 alongside such varied and interesting company. For anyone who can get there, there will be a lecture on Gwen Raverat and her wood engravings on Saturday 31 May from 14.00 to 16.00, given by her grandson William Pryor. Other lectures include Gill Saunders, Senior Curator of Prints at the V&A, on women printmakers, Paul Coldwell on the studio of Paula Rego, and Anita Klein on beauty in art.
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6 comments:

  1. Jane LibrizziApril 25, 2014 at 8:32 PM

    Good job, Neil! Under-appreciated, too. How did the curators know about your treasure trove of prints? It sounds like sending children out into the world, only less stressful. The exhibition sounds exciting. I read about a similar show of prints by middle European female print makers held in Germany recently. The next step, I hope, is for these artists to get their own solo exhibitions.

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  2. GerrieMay 1, 2014 at 6:16 PM

    The show or exhibition Jane is referring to is: "Wege zu Gabrielle Münter (Kandinsky's girlfriend) and Käthe Kollwitz" in Stadt Reutlingen Germany. The book accompanying is a must: ISBN 978-3-939775-37-9 and to order in the Museum Schloss Moyland's shop.
    After Katja Behkling's "die Malweiber" (ISBN 978-3-458-35925-8) dealing with the first generation of professionally painting German women around 1900 showing a renewed and deserved attention. I'm currently working on a inventory and publication concerning the (first) generation of German woodblock printmaking German women artists born between 1860 and 1900 and who were professionally active 1900-1935 with printmaking.

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  3. NeilMay 7, 2014 at 10:49 AM

    Thanks, Jane. Not sure how the curators found me, but they are two bright and resourceful young women! I like lending prints to exhibitions; I suppose it's an extension of the urge to share work on this blog.

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  4. NeilMay 7, 2014 at 10:54 AM

    Thanks for the information, Gerrie. I'm so pleased you're going to gather all your knowledge about the women printmakers of this period into one place, it will be an invaluable resource.

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  5. ERNESTOMay 8, 2014 at 12:20 PM

    i love Paula Rego works!!

    www.facebook.com/paulafigueiroarego

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  6. NeilMay 9, 2014 at 10:38 AM

    Hi Ernesto - yes, Rego is a very important artist. Quite subversive of the traditional "feminine" qualities attributed to women artists.

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