Celebrating Women - Curator Lucy Grosz
Celebrating Women
20 - 31 August 2025
Opening Night
Friday 22 August | 6 - 8 pm
G1
Curatorial statement
Curator: Lucy Grosz
‘Celebrating women’ is an exhibition that collates the work of esteemed female artists including Amanda Schlesinger Goss, Charlotte Clemens, Judith Clifton, Kathryn Rae, Shelley O’Keefe, Rita Sciacca, and Helen Shields. These works, spanning multiple mediums examine themes of motherhood, identity, and feminism. Amanda Schlesinger Goss’s work challenges traditional ideas of womanhood, illustrating different iterations of womanhood printed onto aprons, a marker of women’s life in enforced domestic spheres. Charlotte Clemens’ collage work deals with motherhood and identity. Judith Clifton’s sculptures and teapot cosy illustrate the difficult positions women find their selves in throughout their life. Kathryn Rae’s work takes inspiration from social media, responding to the question ‘Women: would you rather be alone in a forest with a bear or a male stranger?’ Her illustrated bear is cosy and welcoming. Shelley O’Keefe’s work is intense, personal, yonic, and sacred. Helen Shield’s work is a welcome addition of hard edge abstraction, an artistic tradition that has commonly excluded women. Her work is bold, vibrant, and fun. Rita Sciacca’s work uses the traditional medium of embroidery to craft abstract work remanent of womanhood. Together these works create an evocative exhibition that praises the varied artistic achievements of these women.
Artists
Amanda Schlesinger-Goss, Charlotte Clemens, Judith Clifton, Helga Shields, Kathryn Rae, Shelley O’Keefe and Rita Sciacca
Contact
Phone : (03) 9482 3550
mail@redgallery.com.au
Address
157 St Georges Rd
Fitzroy North, Victoria, 3068
Map
How to get here
Tram: Route 11
Stop 21 just north of Edinburgh Gardens
Melway Ref: 30B12
Parking in nearby streets
Bus: 504 (Reid Street)
Lithograph and lipstick on Somerset
38 × 48 cm
#ichoosethebear series
Australia is experiencing a spike in gendered violence, with 103 women killed in 2024 alone.
A question went viral on social media: Who would you prefer to be alone in the woods with, a man or a bear? Women's answers included, "A bear, because if I got attacked by a bear, people would believe me," and "No one would ask me what I was wearing when the bear attacked me".
Kat Rae made this commemorative print series while counting dead women.