Exhibition Curated by Jennifer Lorraine Fraser
Exhibition Featuring:
Ana Čop, Dana Brushette, Kerstin Maciuk, Paddy Jane
and The Archives of Judith Purdy in Discourse
with The History of Women’s work, Trials and
The Hosiery Mills of London, Ontario
A Publication To
Accompany The
Exhibit With contributions
by Special Guest Writer
Kimberly Barton
Women, Freedom and Hosiery "When I put on my own silk stockings, then I knew I was free."[1]
Inspired by the brand new course, What (Not) To Wear I VAH 2235F offered by the Department of Visual Arts at Western University with Professor Kirsty Robertson and the assistance of T.A. Julia Krueger; Women, Freedom and Hosiery will be a multi-faceted exhibition juxtaposing three separate histories of women’s work, expression and identity within the hosiery and entertainment industries over the past 100 years.
London Ontario was once home to five hosiery mills, The Holeproof Hosiery Mill, 1911, The London Hosiery Mill LTD, 1915 and Penman’s LTD, 1919.[2] Richmond Hosiery and Young women, preferred for their dexterity and strong work ethic, kept the hosiery mills of Ontario operating. Some of these preferred female workers arrived at the mills as a result of revisions to the Female Refuges Act of Ontario, which enabled the conviction of women on the grounds of immoral behavior and sentenced them to hosiery mill work. Women as young as 14 described as displaying deviance and seemingly rejecting authority faced this lawful incarceration. The act therefore legally bound young women, who were doing little more than discovering their individual and perceived sexual identity, to work in the mills. During this same time, Mary Prevost moved from Sarnia, Ontario to Hollywood to work as a silent film “bathing beauty” actress while other women of the era appeared in arcade girly cards treasured by among others, World War 1 servicemen.
The exhibition Women Freedom and Hosiery will juxtapose the deviant female imagery of the time with a didactic history of the Female Refuges Act of Ontario and the work of contemporary artists working in London, Ontario today within the vein of the “Bad Girl/Good Girl” pin-up oeuvre. Three main goals will be accomplished: 1) to shed light on the poor working conditions of young women incarcerated for presenting a sexualized identity in the early twentieth century, 2) to remember the women who, beyond all perceived good moral judgment, created careers for themselves within this identifiable imagery and 3) to showcase that was once considered immoral is now an empowered female imagery for women in the twenty-first century.
The Exhibition will be held at the DB Weldon Library in the Spencer Gallery and will consist of a publication, contemporary imagery by artists Dana Brushette http://www.danabrushette.com/, Ana Cop https://www.facebook.com/AnaCop.artist/photos_stream and painter Kerstin Maciuk, and original and/or reproduced Arcade Cards/Posters from the early twentieth century (primarily from the archival collection of Ms. Judith Purdy) and images of Mary Prevost during her career as a Hollywood silent film star. The Catalogue will include four essays, one of which will be written by a guest writer, and fellow Art History student Kimberly Barton. The topics included within the catalogue will be: The history of the hosiery mills of London, Ontario, A short history of Marie Prevost, The history of the arcade card and how it evolved into the Pin-up imagery of the 1950s and the nature of the Female Refuges Act of Ontario, Women’s Identity Then and Now.
Further, a portion of the exhibition will also be housed in the display cases next to the circulation desk. featuring a late addition to the catalogue and exhibit!
Paddy Brown Paddy Jane's Grandmother was a Cabaret performer, model and silver screen actress during the period of the early 1900s. Moved to Chatham, Ontario in the 1950s and begun a a professional theater there. Here she is in a poetic and comedic broadcast talking of male stars of the era sporting women's clothes. http://www.britishpathe.com/video/paddy-browne/query/theatre I will be including her story in the display along with a lil' story about Paddy's relationship with her Grandmother and how she inspired her own art. I absolutely love this story. And speaks to the issue of immigration of women to Canada and how their strength played a key role in our country. You can follow Paddy Jane's radio show's facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/outlawsrock
The exhibition will provide a dynamic introduction into the creative possibilities of studying art history, a discussion and demonstration of what is possible if you have a passion about a small class assignment and how it can grow into an independent study, and a demonstration of options available to Students during their undergraduate degree. Women Freedom and Hosiery also offers an interesting history of empowerment for young women, embarking upon their own life purpose. A lesson on the pains women have endured in Ontario and how they sought to overcome these issues by education, strong leadership and positivity will be beneficial to many different students in search of their own identity. And last but not least, one will find a fun, entertaining and educational exhibit featuring current pop culture and discussion of how the imagery we see in music videos, on social media or within Hollywood Glam identities became what it is today.
[1] Landsberg, Michelle, Plight of Incorrigible Women Demands Justice, Sunday Star May 6 2001 http://www.rapereliefshelter.bc.ca/learn/news/p... accessed November 15, 2012
[2] The names of the hosiery mills are only mentioned in a couple of graphs online, and it is very difficult to find information on the first two. http://www.london.ca/d.aspx?s=%2FAbout_London%2Ftim..., http://www.london.ca/By-laws/PDFs/Downtown_5.pdf Accessed November 16, 2012 and in an advertisement from the London Free Press, Centennial Edition 11 Jun 1949, http://images.ourontario.ca/brant/2334006/page/133 accessed November 16, 2012
Exhibition Featuring:
Ana Čop, Dana Brushette, Kerstin Maciuk, Paddy Jane
and The Archives of Judith Purdy in Discourse
with The History of Women’s work, Trials and
The Hosiery Mills of London, Ontario
A Publication To
Accompany The
Exhibit With contributions
by Special Guest Writer
Kimberly Barton
Women, Freedom and Hosiery "When I put on my own silk stockings, then I knew I was free."[1]
Inspired by the brand new course, What (Not) To Wear I VAH 2235F offered by the Department of Visual Arts at Western University with Professor Kirsty Robertson and the assistance of T.A. Julia Krueger; Women, Freedom and Hosiery will be a multi-faceted exhibition juxtaposing three separate histories of women’s work, expression and identity within the hosiery and entertainment industries over the past 100 years.
London Ontario was once home to five hosiery mills, The Holeproof Hosiery Mill, 1911, The London Hosiery Mill LTD, 1915 and Penman’s LTD, 1919.[2] Richmond Hosiery and Young women, preferred for their dexterity and strong work ethic, kept the hosiery mills of Ontario operating. Some of these preferred female workers arrived at the mills as a result of revisions to the Female Refuges Act of Ontario, which enabled the conviction of women on the grounds of immoral behavior and sentenced them to hosiery mill work. Women as young as 14 described as displaying deviance and seemingly rejecting authority faced this lawful incarceration. The act therefore legally bound young women, who were doing little more than discovering their individual and perceived sexual identity, to work in the mills. During this same time, Mary Prevost moved from Sarnia, Ontario to Hollywood to work as a silent film “bathing beauty” actress while other women of the era appeared in arcade girly cards treasured by among others, World War 1 servicemen.
The exhibition Women Freedom and Hosiery will juxtapose the deviant female imagery of the time with a didactic history of the Female Refuges Act of Ontario and the work of contemporary artists working in London, Ontario today within the vein of the “Bad Girl/Good Girl” pin-up oeuvre. Three main goals will be accomplished: 1) to shed light on the poor working conditions of young women incarcerated for presenting a sexualized identity in the early twentieth century, 2) to remember the women who, beyond all perceived good moral judgment, created careers for themselves within this identifiable imagery and 3) to showcase that was once considered immoral is now an empowered female imagery for women in the twenty-first century.
The Exhibition will be held at the DB Weldon Library in the Spencer Gallery and will consist of a publication, contemporary imagery by artists Dana Brushette http://www.danabrushette.com/, Ana Cop https://www.facebook.com/AnaCop.artist/photos_stream and painter Kerstin Maciuk, and original and/or reproduced Arcade Cards/Posters from the early twentieth century (primarily from the archival collection of Ms. Judith Purdy) and images of Mary Prevost during her career as a Hollywood silent film star. The Catalogue will include four essays, one of which will be written by a guest writer, and fellow Art History student Kimberly Barton. The topics included within the catalogue will be: The history of the hosiery mills of London, Ontario, A short history of Marie Prevost, The history of the arcade card and how it evolved into the Pin-up imagery of the 1950s and the nature of the Female Refuges Act of Ontario, Women’s Identity Then and Now.
Further, a portion of the exhibition will also be housed in the display cases next to the circulation desk. featuring a late addition to the catalogue and exhibit!
Paddy Brown Paddy Jane's Grandmother was a Cabaret performer, model and silver screen actress during the period of the early 1900s. Moved to Chatham, Ontario in the 1950s and begun a a professional theater there. Here she is in a poetic and comedic broadcast talking of male stars of the era sporting women's clothes. http://www.britishpathe.com/video/paddy-browne/query/theatre I will be including her story in the display along with a lil' story about Paddy's relationship with her Grandmother and how she inspired her own art. I absolutely love this story. And speaks to the issue of immigration of women to Canada and how their strength played a key role in our country. You can follow Paddy Jane's radio show's facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/outlawsrock
The exhibition will provide a dynamic introduction into the creative possibilities of studying art history, a discussion and demonstration of what is possible if you have a passion about a small class assignment and how it can grow into an independent study, and a demonstration of options available to Students during their undergraduate degree. Women Freedom and Hosiery also offers an interesting history of empowerment for young women, embarking upon their own life purpose. A lesson on the pains women have endured in Ontario and how they sought to overcome these issues by education, strong leadership and positivity will be beneficial to many different students in search of their own identity. And last but not least, one will find a fun, entertaining and educational exhibit featuring current pop culture and discussion of how the imagery we see in music videos, on social media or within Hollywood Glam identities became what it is today.
[1] Landsberg, Michelle, Plight of Incorrigible Women Demands Justice, Sunday Star May 6 2001 http://www.rapereliefshelter.bc.ca/learn/news/p... accessed November 15, 2012
[2] The names of the hosiery mills are only mentioned in a couple of graphs online, and it is very difficult to find information on the first two. http://www.london.ca/d.aspx?s=%2FAbout_London%2Ftim..., http://www.london.ca/By-laws/PDFs/Downtown_5.pdf Accessed November 16, 2012 and in an advertisement from the London Free Press, Centennial Edition 11 Jun 1949, http://images.ourontario.ca/brant/2334006/page/133 accessed November 16, 2012