Joan Semmel and Diana Campbell

Joan Semmel discusses her exhibition, An Other View (25 April—22 June 2024), with curator Diana Campbell.

“It’s difficult to find ways to deal with ageing that don’t conform to the popular concept of a ‘poor thing’. I don’t want any ‘poor things’ in my paintings. I want a sense of power that age gives one, a sense of knowledge one gets. I want to be contained in that image in some way, and I want it to resonate in some way that is not pedantic.”

Joan Semmel's inaugural exhibition with the gallery, spans a period of five decades, showcasing the major developments in the artist’s oeuvre. The eight large-format oil paintings and two works on paper on display, created between 1971 and 2018, collectively attest to Semmel’s decades-long commitment to the representation of women, largely through the medium of her own body.