Working Girls – a group show at Gallery 46, Whitechapel East London, July 2024  – And on the evening went, after the heat, the crowds and the left-field left-wing political subversion of Peter Kennard’s Archive of Dissent at Whitechapel Gallery, a rush across Whitechapel High Street and through the warren of streets that lead to Gallery 46 and another opening, this time something called Working Girls, a group exhibition that we’re told “explores the intersection of contemporary art and the sex industry, challenging societal norms and reflecting on the commodification of creativity, labour and desire”. The exhibition title apparently references the eponymous film by Lizzie Borden from 1986, as well as the recent book by Sophia Giovannitti, Working Girl: On Selling Art and Selling Sex.

Arrived too late for the Ozziline Mercedes performance (sorry), arrived to find another packed gallery, can’t move in the back garden either, busy night in Whitechapel tonight. Actually there’s a lot of crossover in terms of the Peter Kennard opening and what’s going on here in terms of the activism that’s a little more than just an undercurrent, in terms of the the questions about society, about art, about how we treat each other, how we explore each other.  There’s a lot to Working Girls, a lot of serious undertones, the exploration (and exploitation of) gender and sexuality (gender and sexualities?), the “artwork and creativity found in erotic labour” as curator Mathilde Friis puts it herself. Working Girls is an exhibition that could so easily have felt throwaway, a whole load of cheap thrills, not much more that something a little naughty in an art gallery, thankfully it isn’t…

There’s questions here, intersections, things to ask yourself about the art, questions thrown out by the art, questions asked of the viewer, the onlooker, (the voyeur?) questions being asked by the artists of themselves as artists, as performers and more, about the broader social dynamics, about gallery art. It isn’t all deadly serious, well it is and rightly so, but there’s (erotic) enjoyment and maybe a touch of amusement here as well, a lot of strong art and no we’re not going to post bag loads of photographs from the exhibition this time, go have a look for yourselves, go ask yourselves questions about contemporary representations of sex work within exhibition spaces, go search for that comprehensive understanding of how art work and sex work intersect, go ponder the ways in which they shape and are shaped by broader things. go consider the social constructions surrounding bodies, commodities, and contemporary labour structures, go dance around it all while you delight in those Daddy Bears creations or the gloriously radiant reds of self-declared hedonist, philosopher and painter AJ Bravo on the wall of the main room, or the rather important rather stylish documentation that Whoregrapher continues to do with a sex worker friendly camera. This is a fine show on several levels, there’s lots (and lots) of good art to quietly explore, well worth your time and your questions (or the questions the exhibition will ask of you), as for the opening, quite an event, once again art excites, now can I get to Marc-Aurele Debut’s Cornered over at Bomb Factory in Holborn… (sw)

The exhibition, curated by Mathilde Friis, features the art of Miss Gold, Whoretographer, Anonymous S W Art Collective (a collective of s*x w0rk3rs who create art representative of their pleasure, stories & experiences), Salvia So, Femme Castratrice, Daddy Bears, Ozziline Mercedes, AJ Bravo, Vex Ashley, Celeste The Hooker and Feral Mommy – Hopefully we have them all listed, this is one of those shows where it isn’t entirely clear who’s done what (or maybe it was just too crowded to see), I guess it is about a strong collective united whole, and in those terms it really does work in a positive way.  

Gallery 46 is found at 46 Ashfield Street, Whitechapel, London E1.  The show is open now and runs until August 11th, the gallery is open 1pm until 6pm, Tuesday through to Sunday, check out their website for events during the show.

Previous Gallery 46 coverage

As always, do click on an image to see the whole thing or to run the short slide show and just a little taste of things