An exhibition of work by female artists, as part of ‘Art In The Age of Now’
Fulham Town Hall
20 May – 6 June 2021
As part of ‘Art In The Age of Now‘, a new exhibition takes place this spring titled The Tribe, featuring female artists Holly Allan, Pauline Amos, Kiera Bennett, Dana Berber, Elodie Carrel, Arietta Chandris, Catherine Eldridge, Abigail Fallis, Nancy Fouts; Anna Kenneally; Lily Lewis; Bip Ling; Jil Mandeng; Marion Mandeng; Sarah Maple, Tuesday Riddell, Savannah Macmillan, Jessica St. James, Chloe Karayiannis and Nettie Wakefield. The exhibition at Fulham Town Hall, an iconic, deserted 51,000 sq ft Victorian building will show within 3 separate rooms.
Curator MC Llamas has hand-selected new work by contemporary female artists who represent ‘the different faces of femininity – from the strong or vulnerable to themes of sexuality, mystery or whimsy – without objectification.’
“It’s such an old, grand building, and it has been an honour curating these rooms. I suppose the first room is one that reflects upon the mysteries of the history and memories of such a place – I am extremely interested in subjects relating to Geo-psychology. However, while the first room offers more of an enigmatic take on femininity, with the stories embedded in the subconscious to give way to a variety of interpretations, the second room is colourful and suggestive.” – Curator MC Llamas
The Tribe focuses on several key themes and in a rather eerie set of works from Nettie Wakefield, we see her drawings of reverse portraits of the back of women’s heads, whilst Jil Mandeng’s collaged family portrait reflects on her blurred childhood memories. More controversially, in Nancy Fouts’ “Little Red Riding Hood”, the artist takes inspiration from both light and dark – first from the little red riding hood children’s story, placing the child with a pointed hood, similar to those worn by the Ku-Klux Clan.
With a lighter concept, the centrepiece in the second room is a large stack of bananas made specifically for the room by Abigail Fallis with pop art references to Andy Warhol and Maurizio Cattelan whilst at the time offering a sarcastic take on womanhood and authority. Taking inspiration from pin-up magazines, Edie Baker paints, collages and weaves into the images ‘creating a dialogue with the subject and elevating the images by creating a strong narrative around them.’
In the third room, we will see a unique collaboration between Pauline Amos and MC Llamas – a collection of new timed paintings, where the artists swapped works every 30 seconds, constantly adding to each other’s marks.
‘Art in the Age of Now’ will be the first time the Fulham Town Hall has been open in 10 years, and is a project overseen by curator Ben Moore (Art Below). Co-presented by Lamington Group ‘Art in the Age of Now’ is a free event in support of London’s local artistic community and features an extraordinary programme of installations, guest exhibitions, live performance art, music, talks, readings and screenings in the atmospheric setting of Fulham Town Hall, before it undergoes major renovations and enters a new lease of life as a creative, community hub and boutique hotel in 2022.
Words by Ian Cole for Client Magazine
