WORDS Cheri Morris
In honour of Women’s Month, the powerful influence and legacy of women in art and the sociopolitical complexity of femme experiences at large, Sanlam Art Collection presents Her… – an exhibition of painting, sculpture and printing that celebrates the role of women artists in the shaping of visual art in South Africa.
Exhibiting in Cape Town at the Sanlam Art Gallery from 4 August to 22 October, the exhibition features work from 58 of South African artists from the early twentieth century to present:
- Wendy Anziska
- Kate Arthur
- Ilona Anderson
- Marion Arnold
- Patricia Pierce Atkinson
- Deborah Bell
- Hanneke Benade
- Elza Botha
- Claude Bouscharain
- Peggy Delport
- Nerine Desmond
- Merle De Jager
- Nerine Desmond
- Nel Erasmus
- Ethna Frankenfeldt
- Anthea Delmotte
- Mary-Rose Dold
- Bertha Everard
- Ruth Everard
- Eleanore Esmonde White
- Leor Farber
- Emily Fern
- Bronwen Findlay
- Faiza Galdhari
- Erica Hibbert
- Cecil Higgs
- Penny George
- Pauline Gutter
- Judith Gluckman
- Heather Gourley-Conyngham
- Gina Heyer
- Phillippa Hobbs
- Karen Jarozynska
- Dorothy Kay
- Maggie Laubser
- Noria Mabasa
- Lyness Magwaza
- Judith Mason
- Clare Menck
- Bommie Ntschalintschali
- Freida Ollemans
- Sofie Peters
- Marianne Podlashuc
- Nina Romm
- Helen Sebidi
- Adela Seton-Tait
- Penny Siopis
- Pippa Skotnes
- Tina Smith
- Nita Spilhaus
- Marie van Reenen Stander
- Irma Stern
- Maud Sumner
- Alice Tenant
- Diane Victor
- Barbara Wildenboer
- Judy Woodborne
- Florence Zerffi
Curator Stefan Hundt says that by far some of the greatest contributors to the development of South African art over the past century have been women. “Looking at artists such as Irma Stern, Pippa Skotnes, Helen Sebidi and more, we can see that women artists were innovative and daring at time when the dominating patriarchy saw little value in the visual arts. As museum directors, gallerists and art historians such as the late Marilyn Martin, Linda Givon and Dr Marion Arnold, to name a few, South African women have done an incredible job and still do so today, not only here but also on the international stage. They deserve to be recognised and celebrated.”
Expect textured tellings of what it’s like to be of the female body, the woman’s mind, the divine feminine – from domestic life and motherhood to discrimination, inequality, gendered beauty standards and violence.
Viewing is open to the public on weekdays between 09:00 – 16:30 at The Sanlam Art Gallery in Bellville, Cape Town. Guided tours with the curator and seeing works in storage can be arranged by appointment. For more information, visit blog.sanlam.co.za.
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