Laura Cumming reviews Surface Work, a comprehensive survey of abstract painting by female artists, at Victoria Miro Mayfair (through June 16) and Victoria Miro Wharf Road (through May 19), London.
Cumming writes that the show “is nothing less than an anthology of abstract painting spanning an entire century, from early constructivism to post-digital sampling, in which every work holds its own and every work is by a woman. This is a rare and historic event. It is also clear proof, if more were needed, of the institutional bias of the art world. So many of these women’s names are unfamiliar, so many have been stinted, forgotten or ignored, that it is quite possible to walk through rooms full of magnificent works without having heard of their makers… this show is guaranteed to surprise with its surge of artistic revelations.