Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to navigation
Susan Richardson, Burnt Breakfast, 1975.
Challenging accepted forms of sculpture … Susan Richardson, Burnt Breakfast, 1975. Photograph: Courtesy of the artist and Arts Council Collection Photograph: Courtesy of the the artist
Challenging accepted forms of sculpture … Susan Richardson, Burnt Breakfast, 1975. Photograph: Courtesy of the artist and Arts Council Collection Photograph: Courtesy of the the artist

Women Power Protest review – the art world's forgotten female figures

This article is more than 5 years old

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
An exhibition celebrating female artists is always welcome – yet most aren’t given the space here to explore issues beyond femininity

In 1967, artists Peter Blake and Jann Haworth persuaded the Beatles to dress in fluorescent marching band outfits and stand among a collection of historical figures – the result was the iconic album sleeve for Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Blake was applauded as one of the great British pop artists and later knighted. Haworth fell into obscurity. This is not the only tale of the art world forgetting to value the work of a female artist. It was the same story when Margaret Harrison’s first solo exhibition was closed down for indecency (the indecency of Hugh Hefner posed as a Bunny Girl). Susan Richardson encountered similar hostility when she was trying to balance motherhood with her art in the 1970s.

In an attempt to buck the trend, all three of these once sidelined women are now celebrated in Women Power Protest, with 57 others, at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. The sizeable exhibition takes the three colours of the suffrage flag as its starting point, splitting the works into hope, dignity and activism. Dignity invites women to reclaim the presentation of the female form. Activism replaces the aged sentiment of “purity” in the original suffrage flag and focuses on the fight for equality. Hope nods towards the increased visibility of women’s issues in the art industry.

Work from three Birmingham-based artists – Susan Richardson, Nuala Clooney and Farwa Moledina – produced over 40 years is drawn together to catalogue the evolving position of women in the city. Of the three, Moledina’s stands tall as a fresh approach to identity. Conceptualised as part of her degree show at Birmingham School of Art in 2018, Not Your Fantasy is a large curtain adorned with a woman concealing herself behind a piece of fabric. In a society where “empowerment” is often associated with nudity and the freedom to bare all, Moledina places power in the subject’s decision to remove herself from the male gaze, refusing to be a “fantasy”.

Mrs Manchot, Arms Overhead, 1996, by Melanie Manchot. Photograph: © the artist, courtesy Galerie M, Germany

Opposite Moledina’s curtain, Richardson hangs crocheted breasts in a decorative formation reminiscent of wall displays in 1970s homes. Each breast sits neatly in a hand, and a shimmering droplet drips from the nipple. Like Moledina, Richardson reminds the viewer that breasts have a function beyond male desire.

The exhibition is awash with the experiences and concerns of women: Dayanita Singh photographs a singular light in a dark street highlighting the heightening sense of danger once the sun has set; Mary Kelly documents the development of her son; Melanie Manchot paints her mother’s ageing body. In unison, the works move women from the usual position of “subject” to “author”, enabling the artists to direct their own compelling narratives.

In an industry where female artists are paid 80% less than men and make up just 30% of the Tate’s collection, Women Power Protest is undeniably an important exhibition. But, in using the suffrage flag as the starting point, these artists are forced into categories that hone in on their experience of femaleness rather than allowing them to shout about the nuanced and varied issues in their work. Moledina’s tapestry also comments on race and cultural appropriation; Richardson’s crocheting challenges accepted forms of sculpture in the art industry.

The real evidence of Birmingham Museum’s commitment to female artists will come after this exhibition closes. It’s easy to mount a show such as this during the centenary of some women winning the vote, but much harder to alter a lifetime of collecting habits, ensuring female voices appear in every type of exhibition.

Explore more on these topics

Comments (…)

Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion

Most viewed

Most viewed