Liberties London
An exhibition of contemporary art reflecting on 40 years since the Sex Discrimination Act
COLLYER BRISTOW GALLERY
2 JULY – 21 OCTOBER 2015
Guler Ates, Helen Barff, Sutapa Biswas, Sonia Boyce, Jemima Burrill, Helen Chadwick, Sarah Duffy, Rose English, Rose Finn-Kelcey, Alison Gill, Helena Goldwater, Joy Gregory, Margaret Harrison, Alexis Hunter, Frances Kearney, EJ Major, Eleanor Moreton, Hayley Newman, Freddie Robins, Monica Ross, Jo Spence, Jessica Voorsanger, Alice May Williams and Carey Young
Works by over 20 women artists will reflect the changes in art practice within the context of sexual and gender equality since the introduction of the Sex Discrimination Act (1975) in the UK. Some artists confront issues that galvanised the change in law whilst others carved their own place in a complex and male dominated art world. From the radical movements of the 1960s and 70s, the politics of the 80s, the boom of lad culture in the 1990s to the current fourth wave of feminism, encouraged largely through and because of social media, all of the artists’ question equality and identity in very different ways.
The exhibition presents a snapshot of the evolving conversations that continue to contribute to the mapping of a woman’s place in British society. Body, femininity, sex, motherhood, economic and political status are explored through film, photography, sculpture, performance and painting.
We are extremely grateful to the to the Monica Ross Archive for their support and to Richard Saltoun Gallery who have loaned us significant works by Helen Chadwick, Rose English, Rose Finn-Kelcey, Alexis Hunter and Jo Spence for both the London and Cornwall exhibitions.
Essay ‘Now, Then, and Again: Between Anniversary and HERitage by Dr. Alexandra M Kokoli (Middlesex University), commissioned for the exhibition by Day+Gluckman.
Panel Discussion: What Has Changed? 1 October 2015
Rebecca Tuck of Old Square Chambers, barrister and Employment Judge, will set the legal scene by presenting a ‘Rough Guide to the Sex Discrimination Act’, followed by a discussion chaired by Helen Eastman, theatre director, writer and academic with artist Alison Gill, barrister Alison Morgan of 6KBW College Hill (who represented Caroline Criado-Perez in her high-profile Twitter-abuse case) and Professor Hilary Robinson, Dean of the School of Art and Design, the University of Middlesex.
The discussion will be followed by a performance by artist Sarah Duffy and an opportunity to see the exhibition.
