Hackney Wick exhibition to honour women’s rights icon Emmeline Pankhurst

Women’s rights activist Emmeline Pankhurst

An upcoming exhibition in Hackney Wick is to pay tribute to the work of political activist Emmeline Pankhurst and the Suffragettes.

Uprising, which runs from 6-23 July at Nasty Gallery in Hackney Wick, will examine both the fight for women’s equality and the treatment of female artists.

The display has been organised to coincide with Pankhurst’s birthday, 15 July 1858, and will also commemorate the 2018 installation of a bronze statue in her honour.

Nasty Gallery is an intinerant, female-led initiative, and an offshoot of Nasty Women London. Its aim is to establish a space for exhibitions and performances for women in the arts.

In an extension of Uprising’s celebration of Pankhurst and the Suffragettes, the show will take a deeper look at the inequality that female artists labour under.

Wives and Lovers by Boa Swindler is the one of the artworks set to be on display. Photograph: courtesy Nasty Gallery

A statement from the team behind the exhibition reads: “While there are signs of positive change in the art market for women artists, there still exists enormous room for improvement. The art world’s historical affinity for white male artists very much persists.

“Women have never been treated equally in the art world and still remain undervalued and underrepresented in galleries, museums and auction houses.

“Presenting stats and data has not solved the problem but does help with understanding the scope of it.

“In the UK, around 70 per cent of undergraduates and 75 per cent of postgraduates in Art & Design are women, while 70 per cent of artists represented at top London galleries are men.

“Continuing research indicates strong evidence for discrimination towards women artists. Why so?”

Susan Fisher Sterling, director of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, said that while it might appear women are heading in the right direction, the perception has changed more than the reality.

As she puts it: “People in the art world want to think we are achieving parity more quickly than we are.”

Uprising runs from 6-23 July at Nasty Gallery, 1 Trowbridge Road, Hackney Wick, London, E8 5LD.

For more information, visit nastygallery.co.uk.