As soon as she has a baby a woman's life is altered immeasurably, and usually for the wrong reasons. earn considerably less than working fathers, and face a number of challenges when it comes to . Mothers are also being legally gagged from .
Art critic even found artists who are also mothers, are discouraged from expressing motherhood through their work, and decided this needed to change. The result is the exhibition , featuring over 100 pieces of art created by mothers. The exhibition will be at the from June 22 until 29 September as part of a UK tour.
It will showcase works by artists including Dame Tracey Emin and the late Dame Paula Rego, alongside others from around the world and prominent Birmingham artists. Hettie Judah arrived at the idea for the exhibition after studying the impact of motherhood on artist careers, and how this is reflected in the nature of the art shown in some of the biggest galleries and museums. Speaking at the opening of the show, Judah said "I have many, many artists that have been strongly dissuaded from making or attempting to exhibit work on the theme of motherhood.
They were given this very strong message right from the time they were at art school, that if they were going to be a serious artist, they shouldn't become a mother." She adds that artists were told "Motherhood was not an appropriate subject for art, that, motherhood was certainly not the subject for great art, the kind of art that gets shown in the serious museums, that there was.
