Opening Thurs 14 Feb, 6pm
Exhibition runs Fri 15 Feb – Sat 9 Mar
Open Tuesday – Friday 10am – 5pm, Saturday 11am – 3pm

Women artists have been the subject of varying degrees of critical attention and neglect throughout history. It is an established fact that galleries in general represent more male artists, promote their work more vigorously and sell it for higher prices.

Five years ago, with the assistance of the Bett Gallery, 24 Tasmanian women formed the Artemisia Collecting Group. Recognising a gender imbalance in the arts, they decided to focus their collection on women artists. Together they have amassed an impressive collection of 31 artworks – all by Australian women artists whose work is nationally and internationally recognised.

This exhibition presents an exciting opportunity to see this collection as a whole for the first time. The exhibition shows work by Tasmanian artists, sitting alongside the work of contemporaries from around the country.

The collecting group chose the name “Artemisia” acknowledging the 17th Century Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi, regarded as one of the most accomplished painters in her generation at a time when female painters were almost unknown. The Artemisia Collecting Group hopes to inspire more Tasmanians to enjoy and explore art, and most importantly, to support more women artists.

Artists:

Kelly Austin | Pat Brassington | Penny Burnett | Jane Burton | Elizabeth Cummings | Amanda Davies | Destiny Deacon | Adrienne Doig | Prudence Flint | Auntie Corrie Fullard | Chanyi Henry | Jeanette James | Sylvia Kanytjupai Ken | Barbie Kjar | Rahel Ungwanaka Kngwarria | Annika Koops | Amber Koroluk-Stephenson | Sue Lovegrove | Brigita Ozolins | Lucienne Rickard | Joan Ross | Valerie Sparks | Stephanie Tabram | Megan Walch | Tricky Walsh | Belinda Winkler | Helen Wright

CONVERSATIONS
Sat 2 Mar, 1pm

Join members of the Artemisia Collecting Group for Conversations. This is a free, casual event where you discover more about the artworks exhibited, and find out about the collecting group, how they work and why they feel it’s important to collect art.

Image: Megan Walch, Eschatalogue #2, 2016, Oil and enamel on composite panel