WHAT?  Action, Gesture, Paint: Women Artists and Global Abstraction 1940-70

WHERE?  Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7QX

WHEN?  Now until 7th May 

WHY GO?  For positive vibes. This is a feast of abstract art in every form.

Female artists, mostly overlooked before the Seventies, come to the fore in this magnificent celebration of sisterhood. Rooms are filled with colourful energy that is instantly captivating. It’s enough to inspire any visitor to take up a paintbrush and start daubing away.

Grouped in clusters to represent symbolic gestures like ‘time’ or ‘rhythm’, wild splashy strokes vie with tender abstract calligraphy.  Artists from all over the world are represented, some famous like Elaine de Kooning and Lee Krasner, others have rarely been offered a platform to show their work commercially and all have interesting back stories.

It’s an exhilarating experience, discovering hidden talents that reinforce the joy of freestyle, abstract art.

IN THE KNOW  Whitechapel’s higgledy-piggledy layout of galleries allows for a whole range of smaller companion displays to coincide with each major exhibition. Check out the sister show,  ‘Action, Gesture, Performance: Feminism, the Body and Abstraction’, which focuses on women and dance for free.