GROUP EXHIBITION

Gesture & Form: Women in Abstraction brings together twenty modern and contemporary artists working within the mode of abstraction. In recent years, greater efforts have been made to remediate the imbalanced presence of women artists in the story of abstract painting, and this exhibition engages in that change by celebrating the formidable contributions of these painting giants, past and present.

Following the Second World War, the centre of the art world shifted away from Paris to New York, and alongside this geographical shift came the rise of the Abstract Expressionists. As this movement gained traction, pioneering artists featured in this exhibition drew attention with their paintings full of energetic flashes of colour and their physically active means of placing paint to canvas. Artists such as Elaine de Kooning and Helen Frankenthaler, for example, were instrumental to the technical and stylistic developments in this art movement, but were frequently underrepresented in comparison to their male counterparts – and excluded from gallery spaces. Gesture & Form: Women in Abstraction encourages viewers to reconsider the legacy of these women and situates their innovations alongside generations of artists working across the globe.

The show highlights the multiplicity that can be found within abstractpainting, demonstrating how artists have explored different methods topush the capabilities of the paint medium. With works by HelenFrankenthaler, Vivian Springford, Emily Mason, and Heather Day, viewerswill be able to see how the artists activated their bodies to flood canvaseswith pigment, staining the surfaces with thin layers that swirl over andaround each other. These bold washes of color leave traces of theirprocess, and there is a similar effect in the expressive, more gesturalworks of Elaine de Kooning and Jenny Brosinski, which practicallyvibrate with movement. Each of these paintings embodies thevigorous motion and spirit of artists at work.

Further investigations of form can be seen in paintings by Mary Ramsden,Gwen O’Neil, Sarah Crowner, and Selma Parlour. Ramsden and O’Neil’sworks demonstrate their considered technique, where dappled strokesintroduce textural elements. In contrast to the lyrical forms in O’Neil’swork, Sarah Crowner’s and Selma Parlour’s paintings present geometriccompositions that sharply contrast shapes and hues, drawing theviewer’s eye around the image.

Beyond exploring material, color and method, this group of artists hasalso taken inspiration from the world around them. Sasha Ferré andJemima Murphy reference nature and organic forms in their work, whileMinjung Kim and Tia-Thuy Nguyen draw on aspects of their personalidentity to incorporate traditional art forms from their respectivecultures. Thu-Van Tran’s work is also informed by her heritage, and likeSylvie Fleury and Sylvia Ong, her practice intersects with other visualmedia and artistic forms to plumb wider societal issues.

Now, at a time when figurative art is the trend, Gesture & Form: Womenin Abstraction highlights artists who are, at once, continuing tochallenge norms while forging careers within a rich and vibranttradition.

— Ferren Gipson, art historian, writer, and textile artist

Press release courtesy Almine Rech