PRESS RELEASE
Monday 20 July 2015
The official artist selection for Project AfterBirth – the first ever international contemporary open art exhibition on the subject of parenthood – has been announced.
Project AfterBirth will feature 36 unseen and rarely exhibited 21st century works in a variety of visual, performance, literary, film and digital disciplines, created by emerging and well established international contemporary artists in response to their pregnancy, birth and early parenthood experiences.
In spite of Project AfterBirth‘s tight parameters, an international open Call For Artists that took place this Spring resulted in more than 150 works from all over the world being submitted for consideration.
The exhibition’s selection panel members were Project AfterBirth founders/curators Mila Oshin & Kris Jager (Joy Experiment, Exeter, UK), Martha Joy Rose (Museum of Motherhood, New York, USA), Helen Knowles (Birth Rites Collection, Manchester, UK), Francesca Pinto (The Photographer’s Gallery, London, UK), and Stella Levy & Julie Gavin (White Moose, Devon, UK).
At times hilarious and at times deeply moving, the exhibition not only stands to have a lasting impact on audiences, but will also demonstrate the profound influence pregnancy, birth and early parenthood experiences can have on the practice of male and female artists. As such, Project AfterBirth founders/curators Mila Oshin and Kris Jager hope it will challenge what they refer to as the lingering taboo status of parenthood in the contemporary art world and its perceived inferiority as an artistic subject.
Mila Oshin & Kris Jager said:
“An important aim of this exhibition is to highlight how crucial and urgent it is for the contemporary art world to adopt a more inclusive approach to parenthood, not just for the sake of artists, but also for art audiences who are currently largely denied the kind of meaningful cultural experiences that innovative and quality work on subjects such as pregnancy, birth and early parenthood – which resonate with everyone – will undoubtedly bring about.”
Project AfterBirth premieres at White Moose gallery, UK, from 2nd October until 13th November 2015, with the aim to tour to a number of UK, European and USA art spaces and online platforms in 2016-19.
The exhibition is also intended to contribute to an interdisciplinary research initiative led by Project AfterBirth and a team of academics from the fields of obstetrics, mental health, midwifery, media studies, social justice, and women and gender studies, which is aimed at shedding light on modern pregnancy and birth practices and their impact on 21st century early parenthood experiences.
The 30 international artists that will exhibit work as part of Project AfterBirth are:
1. Alison O’Neill (UK)
2. Amanda West (USA)
3. Belinda Kochanowska (Australia)
4. Carole Evans (UK)
5. Chris Anthem (Beirut/UK)
6. Clare Archibald (Scotland)
7. Courtney Kessel (USA)
8. Csilla Nagy (Hungary)
9. Danielle Hobbs (Australia)
10. Debbie Lee (UK)
11. Eti Wade (UK)
12. Geoffrey Harrison (UK)
13. Helen Sargeant (UK)
14. Hester Berry (UK)
15. Ione Rucquoi (UK)
16. Jana Kasalova (Czech Republic)
17. Jenny Lewis (UK)
18. Josie Beszant (UK)
19. Laura James Wray (UK)
20. Lu Heintz (USA)
21. Madison Omahne (USA)
22. Magda Stawarska Beavan (Poland/UK)
23. Marilyn Kyle (UK)
24. Rachel Fallon (Ireland)
25. Rocio Saenz (Mexico)
26. Ruth Gray (UK)
27. Sacha Waters Freyer (USA)
28. Sarah Sudhoff (USA)
29. Tareg Morris (UK)
30. Trish Morrissey (UK)
For more information or to join the mailing list, please visit: http://www.projectafterbirth.com
For all PRESS ENQUIRIES please email projectafterbirth@lionartprojects.co.uk
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Project AfterBirth‘s 2015 programme is delivered with generous in kind support from:
Project AfterBirth logo image credit: Hilary Paynter, ‘Another Life’, 1977, reproduced with kind permission from the artist for illustrative purposes.
Project AfterBirth 