Magical Women

The link between women and magic has long shaped beliefs and notions of femininity, while also creating a pretext for demonising women in order to reinforce patriarchal social structures. For artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, these associations offer an exciting opportunity to explore themes such as body and gender, female sexuality and identity and the defining of character traits – often from a feminist perspective. Artists: Myrlande Constant, Cordula Ditz, Mary Beth Edelson, Bev Grant / W.I.T.C.H., Vivian Greven, Rebecca Horn, Ana Mendieta, Zanele Muholi, Rosana Paulino, Paloma Proudfoot, Gillian Wearing, Portia Zvavahera