Mothering Myths: An ABC of Art, Birth and Care

Synopsis

Mothering Myths is a richly illustrated collection that examines how motherhood has been imagined, represented, and contested in art from the Middle Ages to the present. Bringing together essays, visual works, and an expansive alphabetical reader of texts, the book explores the enduring myths surrounding maternal care while challenging the ways motherhood has been idealized, marginalized, or dismissed throughout art history.

Moving across feminism, visual culture, literature, politics, and lived experience, Mothering Myths features contributions and excerpts from artists, writers, and thinkers including Tracey Emin, Sheila Heti, Angela Davis, Maggie Nelson, Silvia Federici, Audre Lorde, Rachel Cusk, Ocean Vuong, Elena Ferrante, Torrey Peters, and many others. Thought-provoking and beautifully produced, it offers a wide-ranging meditation on motherhood, creativity, care, and the persistent absence of maternal experience from the artistic canon.

About the Book

Published in conjunction with exhibitions at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht and Nest in The Hague, Mothering Myths brings together an international group of artists, writers, and scholars to reconsider motherhood through contemporary art and critical thought. Combining visual material with essays and an innovative alphabetical structure, the book opens new conversations about gender, labour, family, and artistic practice.

Publisher
Valiz

Publication Date
October 2024

Format
Paperback

Pages
320

Subjects
Art · Feminism · Motherhood · Cultural Criticism · Art History

ISBN
9789493246423