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A sketch of the torso and face of a naked woman
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Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood

Until June 2025

Experience the joys and heartaches, myths and mishaps of motherhood through over 100 artworks

Birmingham, Sheffield, Dundee

From the feminist avant-garde to the present day, Acts of Creation communicates the lived experience of motherhood in all its complexity.

Museums and galleries are full of paintings and sculptures of mothers, from Michaelangelo’s Madonna and Child to Da Vinci’s Madonna Lita. However art which communicates the actual experience of motherhood is much rarer. Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood seeks to address this blind spot by asserting the artist mother as an important cultural figure.

Featuring the work of more than 60 modern and contemporary artists, this major group exhibition explores the diverse experience of motherhood across three themes; creation, maintenance and loss. Its artworks explore the lived state of motherhood, presenting a complex and varied image with relation to contemporary concerns about gender, politics, caregiving and reproductive rights. At its heart is a series of revelatory self-portraits celebrating the artist as mother.

Consisting of works of painting, photography, sculpture, sound and film, Acts of Creation is accompanied by a lively programme of public events and an illustrated book published by Thames and Hudson.

Tour Dates

22 June – 29 September 2024
Midlands Art Centre (MAC), Birmingham

24 October 2024 – 19 January 2025
Millennium Gallery, Sheffield

February – June 2025
Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA), Dundee

Featured Artists

The exhibition features work by Felicity Allen, Janine Antoni, Cassie Arnold, Bobby Baker, Elina Brotherus, Liesel Burisch, Cathy Cade, Lea Cetera, Jai Chuhan, Eileen Cooper, Renee Cox, Dorothy Cross, Rineke Dijkstra, Natalie Djurberg and Hans Berg, Leni Dothan, Marlene Dumas, Catherine Elwes, Tracey Emin, Jessa Fairbrother, Rachel Fallon, Feministo, Fenix, Maeve Gilmore, Anna Grevenitis, Camille Henrot, Susan Hiller, Ghislaine Howard, Elsa James, Chantal Joffe, Claudette Johnson, Mary Kelly, Liss LaFleur, Tala Madani, Sally Mann, MATERNAL FANTASIES, Lindsey Mendick, Mother Art, Wangechi Mutu, Ishbel Myerscough, Everlyn Nicodemus, Catherine Opie, Fani Parali, Celia Paul, Cathie Pilkington, Polvo de Gallina Negra, Laure Prouvost, Paula Rego, Su Richardson, Sister Seven, Monica Sjöö, Annegret Soltau, Tabitha Soren, Heather Spears, Nancy Spero, Hannah Starkey, Emma Talbot, The Hackney Flashers, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Valie Export, Christine Voge, Del la Grace Volcano, Barbara Walker, Caroline Walker, Carrie Mae Weems, Nancy Willis, Hermione Wiltshire, Hermione Wiltshire and Clare Bottomley, Carmen Winant, Daphne Wright and Billie Zangewa.

Partners

Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood is curated by Hettie Judah with Hayward Gallery Touring, in partnership with Arnolfini, Midlands Art Centre, Millennium Gallery and Dundee Contemporary Arts.