GWA Newsletter March #2
All you need to see, watch, read and do this month: from Artemisia Gentileschi's Susanna and the Elders to remembering the great Phyllida Barlow.
Dear Great Women Art Lovers,
I hope you are all well.
For my column in the Guardian this week, I write about Susanna and the Elders – the Biblical story of a woman who is bathing in her garden when two lecherous men try and seduce her. So often painted for the male gaze, it made me think about the volume of European Paintings that we accept as beautiful nudes, but are in fact glorified depictions of violence against women. I look at Artemisia Gentileschi’s 1612 version, which gives voice to the woman, as well as powerful films by Sonia Boyce, and a great lecture by Transparent creator, Joey Soloway. Read it here.
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Last week I paid homage to the great Phyllida Barlow (1944–2023), who passed away this month. I wrote a short reflection of her profound impact for my Substack, compiling my favourite quotes from our GWA Podcast episode. Read it here / listen here.
We’re nominated for The Nibbies for Best Non-Fiction/ Illustrated Book of the Year! (With the likes of Davina McCall and Greta Thunberg in the same category, I’m not sure if I’m more excited to have made the list or to be in such company.) Thank you to everyone for their support. If you want to see more, do not miss our window display at Hatchards on Piccadilly – up until the start of May!
To celebrate International Women’s Month, I spoke to the brilliant Kate Mosse at WOW Festival. We discussed overlooked women (as mentioned in her book, Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries); fascinating terms (such as the Matilda Effect – ‘a bias against acknowledging the achievements of women scientists whose work is attributed to their male colleagues’); wild stats (there are more statues in the UK of men named John than there are statues of women; in Edinburgh there are more statues of animals than women). And a whole lot more.
As of next week I’ll be writing to you from GWA HQ in Gramercy, as I’ll be out in the US for the next few months promoting the launch of The Story of Art without Men (out 2 May). In addition to our Strand Book Store event, we’ll be announcing some very exciting Stateside tour dates (plus an online event for you Substackers!).
That’s all from me. Let’s take a look at 5 of your top 5s.
Katy xoxo
5 Shows in Britain
Berthe Morisot at Dulwich Picture Gallery (opens 31 March, until 10 September)
Betty Woodman at Charleston (opens 25 March, until 10 September)
Charlotte Edey at Ginny on Frederick (until 22 April)
Joy Yamusangie at Tiwani Contemporary (until 1 April)
Lucy Rie at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge (until 25 June)
5 Shows Overseas
Christina Quarles at Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (from 24 March, until 17 September)
Faith Ringgold at the Musée Picasso, Paris (until 2 July)
Kara Walker at the NY Historical Society, New York (until 11 June)
Pipilotti Rist at the MFA Houston, Houston (until 4 September)
Tschabalala Self at Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, Switzerland (until 18 June)
5 Artists Discovered
The Finnish-born artist is perhaps best known as the creator of Moomins – the fictional world she started building in 1945. But she was also a painter. I love her tender scenes of people engaged in real life activities.
Li Hei Dei creates airy, magical paintings that feel like a mystical explosion from her interior world. Her references range from erotic Chinese literature to the likes of Virginia Woolf. Sexual identity and it’s many facets is a key exploration in her paintings.
Born in Ukraine in 1929, Horska was radical. She painted murals, made mosaics and designed stage sets for ballets, but she was also an avid activist who fought against the Soviet authorities with The Sixtiers, a group who campaigned for artistic freedom.
Bright, exuberant, dream-like and divine, Singh’s meticulously layered oil, ink and watercolour works draw from traditional miniature painting to Indian mythology. Now entering into the sixth decade of her career, Singh tell stories from a range of perspectives and explores family life, political tension, power dynamics and more. I find her works evoke both dreams and nightmares.
Levinthal’s paintings unpack domestic situations and relationships with almost cartoon-like simplicity. I especially love her Table Series, featuring all sorts of everyday objects – from wine glasses to knives and forks – that foreground her melancholic scenes.
5 Things to Watch
Alice Neel: They Are Their Own Gifts, 1978 by The Met
Louise Nevelson in Process by The Met
Phyllida Barlow by Cosima Spender
Queer Cornwall: Marlow Moss, Gluck and Ithell Colquhoun by Tate
Senga Nengudi on Joan Jonas by the Dia Foundation
5 Things to Do in London
26 March: Elizabeth Day in conversation with Phoebe Waller Bridge at the Royal Festival Hall
31 March: Preview of the Mother Art Prize at the Zabludowicz Collection
31 March: Tate Late at Tate Modern
1 April: Curator talk on Barbara Chase-Riboud with Yesomi Umolu at the Serpentine
6 April: Curator tour on Alice Neel: A Human Comedy with Eleanor Nairne at the Barbican
That’s it from us! Happy GWA’ing. Thank you for reading this Substack. To receive additional content, and support this page, sign up to be a paid subscriber:
If you think someone else might enjoy this too, please spread the word and share this article. If you have any feedback, please comment below. See you next time! This newsletter is by Katy Hessel + Viva Ruggi.
Katie are you coming to Chicago with your book tour ..?
Wooow, this is the first issue to land in my inbox since I subscribed and is such an incredibly high-signal newsletter with no bs. As a writer AND oil painter, this newsletter blew the top off my expectations. Thanks so much for writing this Katy, appreciate you!