Female art celebrated in Fine Art show
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Published
07 March 2022
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A show titled POWER, features the work of nine women artists from the University of East London (UEL) for International Women's Day
Exhibiting in our newly expanded Way Out East Gallery, the show displays the work of nine women artists from UEL, including tutors, alumni and students from each course year.
The show, which was curated by Daryl Brown, technical associate and alumna, Justine Hounam, BA (Hons) Fine Art, was produced to celebrate the diverse contribution that UEL women bring to the art sector and will open on International Women's Day.
"The show marks International Women's Day and it was actually my granddaughter who decided on the title, POWER," said Justine.
"We wanted to use a combination of different art and media to show how female artists from the Fine Art courses at UEL are contributing to our sector," she continued.
Justine, who graduated in 2014 with a distinction in Fine Art, is now in her final year at Central Saint Martins after receiving the Foundation, Foundation Scholarship funded by Anthony Gormley.
In my experience, the majority of art students tend to be women. However, the majority of successful artists are men," she said.
"To tackle this, I think there first needs to be a universal income for all artists and some specific support for female artists.
"I know of three women artists with children under two being threatened with eviction from their studios because of the lack of attendance. There should be more understanding that women may have responsibilities which eat into their creative time," she continued.
Now having curated her first exhibition at UEL's Way Out East Gallery, Justine sees this as an opportunity to revisit the place where she started her journey in fine art.
Justine said, "I have great memories of UEL, I spent most of my time in the sculpture and print workshop developing my work. I formed some great friendships not only with students but with tutors and technicians and I still keep in touch today. I now share a studio with a fellow former student who is featured in this exhibition.
"My advice to any aspiring artist, of which I am still one, is to continue developing your work and focus on getting a studio space. Even if you are not feeling particularly inspired, just spend time in your studio, something will come.
"Faisal Abdu' Allah, who was my tutor at UEL, said in our first ever seminar: 'You are all artists now' which was great to hear because there will be times when you doubt your ability. I try to remember his words to keep me going."
Find out more information about Justine's work.
The show titled POWER will be exhibited in the Way Out East Gallery at our AVA Building on Docklands Campus between 8 - 11 March 2022.