As this year is the 40th anniversary of the Garman Ryan Collection, gifted to Walsall by two inspirational women, Kathleen Garman and Sally Ryan, this exhibition celebrates the women who have formed part of our Permanent Collection over the last forty years.

There are lots of stories of influential women intertwined in the Garman Ryan Collectioin. The Garman sisters, who hailed from Wednesbury and were daughters of a local doctor, were radical and unconvential. They became part of the bohemian milieu of artistic life in London in the interwar period, breaking away from the traditional role of women in those days.

In the last 40 years the role of women in our society has changed dramatically and women have grown equal in all areas of life. Contemporary women artists are now on equal terms with their male counterparts and from the 1970s to the present day the Gallery has collected a diverse body of work by women in a range of media.

This exhibition opened on International Women's Day and examines 'women's art' and what makes it distinct from that of their male counterparts. It includes work by Kitty Garman, Lorna Wishart, Chloë Cheese, Gertrude Hermes, Helen Chadwick, Anya Gallaccio, Ellen Cantor, Hilary Lloyd, Dorothy Cross, Fiona Banner, Gillian Wearing, Jane and Louise Wilson and two recently acquired paintings by Laura Lancaster.

The New Art Gallery

Gallery Square
Walsall WS2 8LG United Kingdom
Ph. +44 (0)19 22654400
info@thenewartgallerywalsall.org.uk
www.thenewartgallerywalsall.org.uk

Opening hours

Tuesday - Saturday from 10am to 5pm
Sunday from 12pm to 4pm

Related images
  1. Kitty Garman, Nasturtiums, 1997, watercolour on board, Courtesy the estate of the artist
  2. Paula Rego, Ring-a-Ring o’ Roses, 1989, etching, Courtesy the artist
  3. Rita Donagh, Ordance Survey, Birmingham, 2004, mixed media painting. Courtesy the artist