Gate of Horns: Myths of Resistance, Symbols of Defiance

Curated by Hettie Judah

Carl Freedman Gallery is proud to present ‘Gate of Horns: Myths of Resistance, Symbols of Defiance’, an exhibition curated by Hettie Judah. Featuring works by Ingrid Berthon-Moine, Isis Dove-Edwin, Emma Franks, Alexis Hunter, Tamsin Morse, Helen Sargeant and a tribute to Mary Beth Edelson.

Gate of Horns is a celebration of female defiance, from Lilith to Gisèle Pelicot. This is an exhibition of unruly objects, unstable bodies and stories ripe for retelling. Some are fierce and funny. Some might make you cry. Looking back to feminist foremothers involved in the Goddess Movement (with all the discomfort that inspires), Gate of Horns turns to mythic figures and ritual objects as sources of hope and power in our own time

In her ink drawings of the 1990s, Alexis Hunter (1948–2014) uses mythic imagery to picture hormonal changes and the monster within. Made following her work with the standing stones of Mên-an-Tol, Helen Sargeant’s Blue Paintings show a female body in a state of liquid transformation, part owl, part deer, part planetary divine. Ingrid Berthon-Moine’s warrior woman LaLi takes her name from the artist’s motto – I Lack it, I Like it – a spirited riposte to the concept of penis envy. Inspired by West African terracotta pots and their display in colonial museums Isis Dove-Edwin’s ceramic sculptures swell with unruly, otherworldly potency. In her rich narrative paintings, Tamsin Morse conjures surprising twists for familiar stories, from the fall of Adam and Eve to the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. Emma Franks takes Lilith – Adam’s rebel wife, and a demon of Jewish mythology – as her guiding spirit in paintings and rituals celebrating feminine power.

Gate of Horns is entered through an archway that pays tribute to a lost installation by Mary Beth Edelson (1933-2021). Edelson’s Gate of Horns, Fig of Triumph was made for an exhibition at AIR Gallery in New York in 1977. The women’s hands photographed for this homage all belong to artists with links to Margate. Individual photographs from the Gate of Horns will be sold to raise money for the domestic abuse charity Oasis.

Preview

22nd February, 5-8 pm

Dates

23rd February – 13th April 2025

About The Curator

Hettie Judah is a writer and curator. She is a regular contributor to The Guardian, Frieze, The Times Literary Supplement, and Apollo magazine. Her recent shows include the Hayward Gallery Touring exhibition Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood which opened at the Arnolfini in Bristol in March 2024, and tours to DCA Dundee in April 2025. As a public speaker and broadcaster, she can be heard on programs such as BBC Radio 4’s Front Row. Her recent books include How Not To Exclude Artist Mothers (and other parents) (Lund Humphries, 2022), Lapidarium: The Secret Lives of Stones (John Murray, London, 2022) and Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood (Thames & Hudson, 2024).