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Invisible Adversaries - An exhibition about gender inequalities

Robinson considers how leading international artists working in lens-based media have attempted to represent gender inequalities and their consequences in this curated group exhibition. He also explores the recent approaches to what might be called counter-narratives, where gender roles and positions are reversed or inverted, adopted by female artists on both sides of the Atlantic. The experimental juxtaposition between works by historical figures (always male, representing female bodies) and female contemporary artists representing male bodies created productive friction and deliberate dissonances, with viewers invited to imagine the characteristics of the implied spectators in each instance.

The exhibition at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, (26 February - 25 April 2009) included loans of major works by museums nationwide by Goya and Constable (currently attributed), as well as printed images from diverse sources including the Victoria & Albert Museum. The exhibition provided several international artists with their first UK public exhibitions, including several who have subsequently become well established and exhibited widely: Laurel Nakadate (NYC), Sedzia Glówny / Chief Judge - Karolina Wiktor and Aleksandra Kubiak, (Warsaw), Ursula Biemann (Vienna), Agathe Snow (NYC), Alice Anderson (Paris), Xavier Cha (Los Angeles). It also included new artworks commissioned from Neil Bromwich & Zoe Walker and Natasha Caruana,

This was the first UK public exhibition to examine this area within the context of historical visual materials. It was the first opportunity for any audience in the UK to view major works that have subsequently accrued critical importance and become central to discussion of the field. The exhibition was seen by over 7,100 people and ran for two months, being extensively reviewed in leading journals including Art Review, as well as receiving coverage in national press including The Guardian.