Painter and feminist print maker Emma Harvey’s rather strong solo exhibition I Am The Beast I Worship opened in a rather glorious way last weekend at WIA Gallery, a rather interesting art space found in Lewes, down in Sussex. Emma’s show runs at the gallery until May 18th, the art kind of speaks for itself and no, that is a cop-out on my part. You know Emma and I work together quite a lot, she is co-founder of Cultivate and we do curate and lot of shows together, I can’t really review her show but hey, I can say her work excites me, it intrigues me, and she might just have upset a few people with those phonebox tart cards she left around the streets of Lewis. Do love that Beltaine flavoured staff in the gallery window and okay, slight more than 43 photos from the show and the opening can be found further down this page… (sw)

Here’s what the gallery had to say in terms of an exhibition preview:  “Emma Harvey is a painter from London, currently based in Kent, who makes paintings and lino prints that explore themes of female empowerment, body image and self-identity; her work is a very personal response to gender and female sexuality and her own understanding of body, femininity, and self. In her exhibition, ‘I am the beast I worship’ at WIA Gallery a ritualistic theme runs throughout her work as she examines and reimagines her own experiences in relation to past and present narratives about women’s sexuality. Emma incorporates ribbons into her work to symbolise society’s attempt to tame and control women but to Emma they are a means of reclaiming the imagery of restraint as a form of emancipation.  Emma has exhibited both nationally and internationally, solo shows and group shows, and she has also curated and co-curated several shows as part of Cultivate, the London-based artist-run gallery”.  

WIA (Women in Art) is found at 3 Fisher Street, Lewes, Sussex, BN7 2DG. The gallery is open Thursday to Saturday, midday until 5pm or by appointment.  I am the beast I worship is on now and runs until 18th May 2024

There’s a rather good set of questions and answers with Emma on the WIA website. And here’s a link to all things Emma Harvey

As always, do click on an image to see the whole thing or to run the slide show.