Su Richardson: In Stitches at the Midlands Arts Centre (MAC) presents the largest retrospective of the artists pioneering feminist art to date, and the first solo exhibition in her hometown. Running from 8 March to 1 June 2025 at the Arena Gallery, In Stitches showcases the breadth of her fifty-year career.
From crochet and soft sculpture to colour prints and postal art, Su Richardson’s humorous, subversive style challenges traditional gender roles and societal expectations. As a Birmingham-based pioneer of British feminist art, she is known for her contribution to redefining craft and textiles as a fine art form. Yet despite her central role in the feminist movements of the 1970s and 1980s - and British art history as a whole - Richardson existed outside the mainstream art world for decades, which contributed to her thirty-five-year break from making new work. Returning in 2018, her work is now receiving the recognition it deserves.
Su Richardson, 'Medal Winning Milk (detail)', 2022. Courtesy the artist. Credit Tegen Kimbley
Curated by Roma Piotrowska, In Stitches honours and celebrates Richardson’s legacy, offering a fresh perspective on womanhood across time - from motherhood and relationships to ageing, illness, and loss. Richardson reflects on returning to making art after raising her son...
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Image Credits:
Lead Image: Su Richardson, ME - Washboard Woman, 2018-20.
All other images as credited in image captions.