The Royal Academy’s latest exhibition, Whistler’s Woman in White: Joanna Hiffernan, uses paintings, drawings and sketchbooks to shine a light on the woman behind the muse, the business manager and companion behind the model.
Angry at the sexual harassment women experience, Molly Williams began to paint something disturbing but powerful. The resulting painting, Bloody Barbarella, was her way of speaking back and subverting the violence of misogyny.
Rosanne Robertson’s Subterrane uses both the ruggedness and fluidity of the West Cornish coastline to celebrate the beauty of queer bodies and gender non-conformity, writes Catherine Howe.
Artist Yinka Shonibare curates a vibrant, magical and moving Summer Exhibition, one where a multiplicity of voices and artistic perspectives speak to the pain and progress of both past and present, writes Emily Walters.
Jade French, Suzanna Petot and Lottie Whalen of the interdisciplinary collective, Decorating Dissidence, discuss the recent Sophie Taeuber-Arp exhibition at Tate Modern, how dance informed Taeuber-Arp’s work and practise, and why she is relevant for us today.
Iona Glen reflects on Celia Paul’s memoir, Self Portrait, the significance of the British Museum and Bloomsbury to the artist’s work, and her subversive vanquishing of “muse-dom” and patriarchal conventions through painting.
Reginald Sylvester II’s With the End in Mind showcases rich and affective abstract works, which both speak to and stand out among current exhibitions of Black art, writes our contributor Ifeanyi Awachie.
Oscar Wollheim curates a sumptuous suite of five great abstract masters – Bowling, Gilliam, Golding, Hoyland and Sylvester II – in his imaginative and vibrant exhibition, Modal Painting, at Maximillian William.
After seeing artist Charlotte Salomon’s work in an exhibition before the first lockdown, So Mayer started to reflect on the evolution of Salomon’s innovative, word-strewn paintings. Here, they consider how Salomon’s work conjures and embodies a unique voice, a bold assertion of self that defies curatorial and art historical prejudices.
Before the second lockdown Toni Roberts saw Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s show Fly in League with the Night at Tate Britain. Here, she recalls vibrant paintings alive with stories, brilliant studies of people, and human relationships that transcend the canvas’ edges.
Millais’ painting, Ophelia, continues to inspire viewers and critics alike, but what if the heroine came back from the watery grave she was condemned to? Here, Hannah Hutchings-Georgiou considers the return of Ophelia in the artwork of Jada Bruney and Rolake Osabia, and the music visuals of Christine and the Queens.
The National Gallery’s blockbuster exhibition celebrates the professional ingenuity, self-confidence and skilful proto-feminist paintings of one of Italy’s best Early Modern women artists, Artemisia Gentileschi.
