Scenes of rest — and the experiences that lead to or stem from it — have been a generative motif for women artists, helping them to articulate complex and differing experiences of family, health and work. This exhibition brings together a century of works across a variety of mediums: paintings, prints and textiles, including a collaborative quilt. In their own unique way, all offer a counterpoint to the familiar artistic genre of the reclining nude, a figure that is almost always a woman. In the hands of historic male artists, such as Giorgione’s Sleeping Venus (c.1510), the pose carries associations and projections of idealised sensuality, wealth and passivity. In this exhibition, we see work made by women artists on their own terms.
Taking its name from one of the three prints on display by wood engraver and painter Gwen Raverat (1885–1957), a local artist for whom the sleeping subject became an enduring theme, The Sleepers surveys works by 12 artists to explore why sleeping, dreaming and resting have been subjects of depiction by women artists. It also asks us to consider who has access to these cherished moments of relief and respite.
For those with disabilities or chronic illnesses, rest can be a complicated and sometimes inaccessible state. In 2022, the YouGov Sleep Study showed that 60% of women aged 25 to 59 say they do not get enough sleep. In 2023, a study by psychologists at Nottingham Trent University found people living in deprived areas have poorer sleep quality than those in affluent areas, whilst studies involving Black people report the worst sleep overall. This exhibition and its accompanying programme aims to unpack the differing relationships between women and rest, and consider how they inform our understandings of time, labour and care.
Curated by Laura Moseley with curatorial support from Harriet Loffler. Exhibition design by Sally Coleman.
This exhibition was generously supported by East Anglia Art Fund, Cambridge Arts Society and Backstitch Cambridge.
Artists: Joke Amusan, Helen Cammock, Ann Dowker, Tracey Emin, Laura Footes, Bambou Gili, Kate Montgomery, Celia Paul, Jenny Polack, Gwen Raverat, Lucy Raverat and Nancy Willis.
Facilities
- Accessibility Guide
- Assistance dogs welcome
- Blue badge parking
- Car Parking
- Disabled Accessibility
- Facilities for Disabled Guests
- mostly flat terrain
- On site parking
- wheelchair access
- wheelchair accessible
Accessibility Facilities
- Accessibility Guide
- Assistance dogs welcome
- Blue Badge Parking
- Designated wheelchair public toilet
- facilities for disabled guests
- Staff available to assist
- Wheelchair accessible
