CLASS DESCRIPTION

From the selfless Virgin Mary, to the uncomplaining 'Angel in the House' through to the flawless mother-as-consumer promoted by advertisers in the 20th century, representations of motherhood have rarely been based on first-hand experience. On Art and Motherhood: the construction of perfection and its feminist subversion' looks at how ideals of motherhood have been promoted through visual culture and explores how artist mothers have gone about dismantling these myths. How does it change things if the artist herself is a mother? What other stories emerge?

This lecture addresses the blind spot in art history, asserting the artist mother as an important – if rarely visible – cultural figure. Just as the currently touring exhibition curated by Hettie, ‘Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood’ commissioned by Hayward Gallery Touring exhibitions, this lecture explores the lived experience of motherhood, presenting a complex and varied image with relation to contemporary concerns about gender, politics, caregiving and reproductive rights.

ABOUT OUR LECTURER

Hettie Judah is chief art critic on the British daily paper The i, a regular contributor to The Guardian’s arts pages, and a columnist for Apollo magazine. She writes for Frieze, Art Quarterly, Art Monthly, ArtReview and other publications with 'art' in the title, and is a contributing editor to The Plant magazine. Following publication of her 2020 study on the impact of motherhood on artists’ careers, in 2021 she worked with a group of artists to draw up the manifesto How Not To Exclude Artist Parents, now available in 15 languages. She regularly talks about art and with artists for colleges, as well as museum and gallery events. A supporter of Arts Emergency she has mentored artists and students through a variety of different schemes. As a broadcaster she can be heard (and sometimes seen) on programmes including BBC Radio 4’s Front Row and Art That Made Us. Recent books include How Not To Exclude Artist Mothers (and other parents) (Lund Humphries, 2022) and Lapidarium: The Secret Lives of Stones (John Murray, London, 2022/ Penguin, NY, 2023).

Hettie is curator of the Hayward Gallery Touring exhibition Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood which will open at the Arnolfini in Bristol on 9 March 2024. Her book of the same title will be published globally by Thames & Hudson in July 2024.

In 2022, together with Jo Harrison, Hettie co-founded the Art Working Parents Alliance - a supportive network and campaigning group for curators, academics, gallerists, technicians, educators and others working in the arts.

INSTAGRAM: @hettiejudah
WEBSITE: www.hettiejudah.co.uk

This is a recording of a live session hosted by The Feminist Lecture Program in June 2024. The reading list for the class can be found alongside this rental.

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