Exhibitions

Art in Focus: Women From the Center

This exhibition celebrates women artists in the collection of the Yale Center for British Art. Inspired by Yale University’s celebration of 50 years of coeducation in Yale college and 150 years of coeducation in Yale graduate programs, Art in Focus: Women From the Center highlights women artists whose inventive art practices have enabled them to stake out space in the art world. The title for this exhibition references both the use of the collection of the Yale Center for British Art and Lucy Lippard’s influential collection of feminist essays, From the Center (1976).

The artists featured here span the nineteenth century to the present day and work across a broad spectrum of media, styles, and techniques. The display is composed of four different themes: “Women and Institutions” looks at artists who challenge bodies of knowledge and control that have historically marginalized or oppressed women. “Space and Place” showcases women artists who reimagine urban and pastoral environments and imprint their own subjectivity on these spaces. “Women as Muses” challenges traditional understandings of artist and muse—namely that of an active male artist and a passive female muse—for on this wall women play both roles. Finally, “Beyond the Figure” examines the role that women have played in breaking free from the politics of figuration.

Exhibition brochure

Read more about the artists' works that are featured in this display.

Credits

Art in Focus is the annual exhibition curated by members of the Center’s Student Guide Program. The exhibition introduces Yale undergraduates to museology by providing them with curatorial experience. Women From the Center was curated by Emma Gray, SY ’21; Sunnie Liu, JE ’21; Annie Roberts, SY ’21; Christina Robertson, SM ’22; and Olivia Thomas, MC ’20. The students were led by Linda Friedlaender, Head of Education; Jennifer Reynolds-Kaye, former Educator, School and Community Outreach; and Rachel Stratton, former Postdoctoral Research Associate.

The exhibition and accompanying online presentation were generously supported by the Marlene Burston Fund and the Dr. Carolyn M. Kaelin Memorial Fund.

50 Women at Yale 150

View works from the collection included in this exhibition here

Top image
Joy Gregory, Autoportrait (detail), 2006, giclée print, Yale Center for British Art, Friends of British Art Fund, © Joy Gregory

Related events

Talks

at home: Opening Program | Art in Focus: Women From the Center

Friday, March 5, 2021, 12:30–1:30 pm ET

Talks

at home: Artists in Conversation | Rina Banerjee

Friday, August 14, 2020, 5–6 pm ET

Extended reading

Joy Gregory, Autoportrait (detail), 2006, giclée print, Yale Center for British Art, Friends of British Art Fund, © Joy Gregory 2020
Story

Art in Focus: Women From the Center

Written by Emma Gray, SY ’21; Sunnie Liu, JE ’21; Annie Roberts, SY ’21; Christina Robertson, SM ’22; and Olivia Thomas, MC ’20

Read more Art in Focus: Women From the Center

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