The Feminist Lecture Program is excited to announce their Summer term of amazing online weekly feminist lectures!
We welcome guest lecturer Hettie Judah to explore the discrepancy between the prominent figures of mothers depicted in art through history and the absence of visibilty and experiences of actual artist mothers.
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
Banner image credit: Tala Madani ‘Shit Moms’
UPCOMING SESSIONS WITH THE FEMINIST LECTURE PROGRAM
Monday 20th May
Lucy Brownson (she/her) and Matilde Manicardi (she/her)
Building It Ourselves, Building It Together: A History of Queer and Feminist Community-Building Through Housing Activism
Monday 27th Mat
Jasmine Reimer (she/her)
Feminist Monsters: Transformation and the New Weird Divine
Monday 3rd June
Nicola Hill (she/her)
Visions, Veils And Virgins: A Short History of Epilepsy Through the Lives of Extraordinary Women
Monday 10th June
Kate Robinson (she/her)
An Introduction to Textiles as a Feminist Discourse
Monday 17th June
Joanna Sperryn-Jones (she/her)
Breaking As Making: Women Artists Employing Breaking, Violence and Destruction
Monday 24th June
Hettie Judah (she/her)
On Art And Motherhood: The Construction of Perfection and its Feminist Subversion
Monday 1st July
Luisa-Maria MacCormack (she/her)
Ana Mendieta: Soil, Dirt and the Body as Art
Monday 8th July
Janine Francois (she/her/they/them)
Oppositional Gaze: Black Feminist Photography as Feminist Resistance
Stay tuned in to be the first to hear about our Autumn term!
RECORDING
A recording of the lecture will be sent out by The Feminist Lecture Program after the event finishes, within 2 hours of the end of the class. This email will also contain any resources/reading list the lecturer shares.
Please add hello@feministlectureprogram.com to your email contacts to ensure you receive the recording as expected.
Please note that the recording will expire 7 days after sending.
PAY WHAT YOU CAN
Everyone is welcome to join this Pay-What-You-Can class. We suggest a donation of £20, however, we understand that may not be possible for everybody. Please be honest and pay what you can afford so that we can continue to offer our sessions on a donation basis.
MORE FLP…
Can’t get enough? The Feminist Lecture Program has our very own digital archive, where you can find some of the best past lectures from our back catalogue to rent and watch ON DEMAND. Check out our ever growing collection here: https://thefeministlectureprogram.vhx.tv/
Follow us on Instagram @thefeministlectureprogram
And check out our sustainable merch from FLP Studio at https://feministlectureprogram.com/shop & @flp__studio
And that's it!
We're really looking forward to you joining us x