The Audacity at Boxpark Shoreditch
Sprawling across Boxpark Shoreditch, The Audacity – The Female Gaze and Taking Up Space transforms its black shipping containers into vibrant, unruly chambers of resistance and cultural memory. Curated by Stefdies and showcasing the work of 21 women and non-binary artists, the exhibition opens with a visceral gesture: a “die-in” staged on the pavement outside. Stefdies – known for her ongoing series of staged death scenes, in which she is depicted lying face-down, limbs limp and lifeless – was joined by fellow artists, collapsing in solidarity. The act is at once theatrical and confrontational, blurring lines between protest, performance and gallows humour.
Inside Boxpark’s steel shell, the space thrums with energy. It is intimate and electric – a dense constellation of images and mediums. At the entrance, Constance Regardsoe’s Uncoil suspends a swimmer in water, the light fractured and floating, evoking both calm and disorientation. Just beyond, Stefdies’s STEFDIES In Pool (Keywest) presents a grim juxtaposition: her body floats in still water beside an empty tequila bottle, the scene tinged with dread and deadpan irony. Karen Turner’s portraits of the female form present flesh as an archive: strong, soft, marked by time – whereas Delphine LeBourgeois’s fantastical figures, cloaked in armour and bearing shields, explore the weight and wonder of feminine mythos.
Among the most striking are Lauren Ly’s pink-hued digital collages and printed stickers, deeply inspired by fiction. The Vegetarian, drawn from Han Kang’s novel of the same name, transforms a particularly disintegrating passage into an architectural form. Elsewhere, her depictions of domestic interiors – uncleared tables, unmade beds, unfinished meals – pulse with the delicate tension between routine and reverie, creating intimate worlds rendered in crisp, loving detail. Steps away, Pippa Smith offers a vibrant contrast with Mediterranean still lifes bursting with primary colours, steaming crustaceans, and terracotta plates – playful yet assertive. What unites these works is not a singular style or message, but a shared determination to occupy and shape space on their own terms. The Audacity is both a statement and a showcase – a powerful, collective affirmation of identity that refuses to be softened or sidelined.
Christina Yang
Photo: Alex Walton
The Audacity is at Boxpark Shoreditch from 4th until 27th July 2025. For further information or to book, visit the exhibition’s website here.
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