The art world appreciates naked women. Catherine Shaw, the central character in the play Indestructible, quotes the claim by The Guerrilla Girls that, while less than 4% of artists exhibited in the New York Met are women, over 70% of the nudes in the gallery are women.
No surprise there, though it may not be enough for some critics. A little later in the show, we get an imagined interview with a critic whose words are derived from one of his many Guardian articles in which he says that the “centenary celebration of one of the most famous women in surrealist art that is about to open at the V&A, would be better if it included more nude images of the artist.”
No surprise there either.
The play is full of shocking snippets of information, entertaining sketches and even a short game show, all of which revolve around the story of a gallery deciding to mount an exhibition curated by the fictional feminist artist Catherine Shaw (Mary Rose), who hasn’t shown her work for over a decade.
Her friend and agent Robin (Paul Huntley-Thomas) thinks it’s a great idea and Christian (Danny Charles), the gallery contact, is enthusiastic. Everything is looking good for the exhibition as she starts to enlist new and established women artists to share the opportunity, despite her suspicions of the billionaire men whom she believes control the art world.
However, a sudden scandal blows up in which she unintentionally appears to be backing a man accused of sexual abuse by another woman artist. There is outrage on social media, the gallery goes into panic mode and Catherine is torn between old friendships and doing the right thing by the politics she has long fought for.
This engaging show shines an important light on the money-driven commodification of art in which women are discriminated against and still too often the cruel object of sexual objectification.
The play is well-researched and imaginative, though it can lack dramatic tension and feel like it’s keener to have us rolling with the good politics than enjoying a good story.
Every year, art sales on the global art market run into billions of pounds. In this way, the money men control the agenda of what makes good art and shape how it is created, how it is taught and how it should be consumed. And if something pops up they initially missed (e.g. Banksy), don’t worry, they have the money to deal with that.
The hope of a different world for art lies in the struggles against traditional hierarchies by feminists, anti-racists and others giving voice to those who suffer injustice and inequality. Plays like Indestructible are part of the change.