Works by Bridget Riley, Tracey Emin and Nancy Fouts feature in a celebration of women that highlights gender disparity in the artworld.

The first exhibition of 2021 at Hoxton's Hang-Up gallery champions the female artistic game changers "playing on a field that was rigged against them."

Hackney Gazette: Ashtray by Yayoi KusamaAshtray by Yayoi Kusama (Image: Courtesy of Hung Up Gallery)

Yayoi Kusama, Swoon, and Nina Chanel Abney also feature in Game Changers: Renegade Artists Defying Convention which calls attention to the Artnet finding that of $196.6 billion spent at auction between 2008-2020, just $4 billion went on artworks by women.

Hackney Gazette: Red Dominance by Bridget RileyRed Dominance by Bridget Riley (Image: Hung Up Gallery)

"This important exhibition honours the valuable contribution made by these extraordinary women and acts as a rallying cry for equality going forward. Many of these artists re-defined or even invented their own genres and offered invaluable contributions to the development of contemporary art."

Hackney Gazette: And then by Tracey EminAnd then by Tracey Emin (Image: Courtesy of Hung Up Gallery)

The exhibition is pitched as a "conversation" around gender politics in art and the question posed by art historian Linda Nochin in 1971: “Why are there no great women artists?”.

While the situation is improving, it remains the case that male artists dominate the permanent collections of many galleries and few women command the prices of their male peers.

Hackney Gazette: Nina Abney Chanel - Temporary FriendsNina Abney Chanel - Temporary Friends (Image: Hung Up Gallery)

The gallery is not only creating space for positive change but celebrating the artistic genius of women "who climbed to the top of artistic ladders despite barriers often more significant than those faced by their male counterparts."

Game Changers runs July 30 until September 17 at Hang-Up Gallery, Branch Place, N1.

https://hanguppictures.com/