Taking place across Victoria Miro's London galleries, this international, cross-generational exhibition is a celebration of women artists who have shaped and transformed, and continue to influence and expand, the language and definition of abstract painting.
The exhibition was additionally on display at Gallery II Wharf Road and Victoria Miro Mayfair.
| Victoria Miro Mayfair | Gallery I, Wharf Road | Gallery II, Wharf Road |
| Suzanne BLANK REDSTONE | Rita ACKERMANN | Gillian AYRES |
| Betty BLAYTON | Etel ADNAN | Sandra BLOW |
| Lygia CLARK | Sara BARKER | Varda CAIVANO |
| Prunella CLOUGH | Lynda BENGLIS | Louise FISHMAN |
| Jay DEFEO | Sarah CAIN | Martha JUNGWIRTH |
| Svenja DEININGER | Angela DE LA CRUZ | Joan MITCHELL |
| Helen FRANKENTHALER | Lucy DODD | Victoria MORTON |
| Ilse D'HOLLANDER | Mary HEILMANN | Elizabeth NEEL |
| Tess JARAY | Loie HOLLOWELL | Jackie SACCOCCIO |
| Lee KRASNER |
Tess JARAY |
Pat STEIR |
| Yayoi KUSAMA | Bharti KHER | |
| Agnes MARTIN | Katy MORAN | |
| Tomie OHTAKE | Annie MORRIS | |
| Betty PARSONS | Rebecca MORRIS | |
| Howardena PINDELL | Elizabeth MURRAY | |
| Liubov POPOVA | Dala NASSER | |
| Mary RAMSDEN | Fiona RAE | |
| Dorothea ROCKBURNE | Yuko SHIRAISHI | |
| Mira SCHENDEL | Raphaela SIMON | |
| Hedda STERNE | Mildred THOMPSON | |
| Alma THOMAS | Adriana VAREJÃO | |
| Adriana VAREJÃO | Jessica WARBOYS | |
| Paule VÉZELAY | Mary WEATHERFORD |
Click here for details of Saturday exhibition tours.
Related
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Review
Posted
December 30 2018
Laura Cumming selects Surface Work for her best art of 2018
'A century of abstract painting by women: rare and revelatory.' The Observer Laura Cumming -
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Gallery Event
Posted
May 15 2018
Surface Work Tours
The final tour in the series is led by Dr Jo Applin, Lecturer, The Courtauld Institute of Art, 11am, Saturday 16 June at Victoria Miro Mayfair. -
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Picture story
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May 12 2018
Anatomy of an Artwork: Elizabeth Murray’s Maybe True
Skye Sherwin writes about Murray's painting, which is on display as part of Surface Work at Wharf Road until 19 May. Skye Sherwin, The Guardian -
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Review
Posted
April 24 2018
Surface Work is Time Out’s Show of the Week
★★★★ 'This show of abstract art by women isn't just a powerful statement that women were there too, but that they were knocking up some of the best abstraction in the biz in the process.' Eddy Frankel, Time Out -
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Preview
Posted
April 22 2018
Elephant features Adriana Varejão’s Parede con Incisão a la Fontana 3 in its Contemporary Classics column
'Adriana Varejão's slashes after Lucio Fontana have a more gruesome story to tell than her predecessor's punctures, making it a fitting inclusion in a groundbreaking new show on female abstract painters at Victoria Miro gallery in London.' Charlotte Jansen, Elephant -
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News story
Posted
April 20 2018
The Financial Times announces Victoria Miro’s representation of the Ilse D’Hollander Estate
D’Hollander’s soft, small-scale but highly charged works often draw on the Flemish countryside and are increasingly finding their audience with recent institutional shows in Europe. Melanie Gerlis, Financial Times -
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Review
Posted
April 20 2018
Louisa Buck reviews Surface Work in The Telegraph
'This museum-quality show brings together more than 50 international artists… to confirm that women are – and always have been – at the forefront of non-figurative art.' Louisa Buck, The Telegraph -
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Review
Posted
April 15 2018
Laura Cumming reviews Surface Work in The Observer
★★★★★ 'To see all these works in London, for the first time, is both momentous and poignant.' Laura Cumming, The Observer -
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Review
Posted
April 13 2018
Caroline Douglas, Director of the Contemporary Art Society, writes about Surface Work in her Friday Dispatch
'How interesting to consider that through those macho times, it was these brave, smart women who were doing the business.' contemporaryartsociety.org Caroline Douglas -
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Review
Posted
April 10 2018
Matthew Collings reviews Surface Work the Evening Standard
★★★★ 'Surface Work has a lot of playfulness as well as dignity.' Matthew Collings, Evening Standard -
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Preview
Posted
April 3 2018
Francesca Gavin writes about Surface Work in the Financial Times
'It demonstrates how women have been central to the development of the dialogue around the abstract – the 20th century’s most defining change in visual culture.' Francesca Gavin, The Financial Times
