Reflection: works by Judith Godwin
— The Arts Club London 12 February — 25 May 2025

Judith Godwin’s paintings embody a bold and deeply personal vision of abstraction. A figure within the mid-century New York avant-garde, she was one of the few women to stake her place in a movement largely shaped by men. Reflection offers an opportunity to engage with her abstract compositions, works that pulse with movement, colour, and a sense of liberation.

Born in Virginia in 1930, Godwin moved to New York in 1953, immersing herself in the city’s rapidly evolving Abstract Expressionist scene. She studied at the Art Students League under Hans Hofmann, whose theories on push-and-pull composition encouraged her confident approach to structure and spatial depth. At the same time, her long-standing friendship with modern dance pioneer Martha Graham shaped her visual language. Godwin translated Graham’s physicality into her paintings, creating sweeping arcs and fluid geometries that capture a sense of motion and emotional intensity.

A key presence in Betty Parsons’ circle, Godwin exhibited alongside artists such as Agnes Martin and was championed from the outset of her career. However, despite early institutional recognition, her work remained in the shadows of her male peers. Throughout her career, Godwin continuously challenged the rigid, masculine rhetoric of Abstract Expressionism. Her paintings balance structure with spontaneity, discipline with intuition. Gestural yet controlled, their forms moving between expression and restraint.

This exhibition presents key works such as Reflection (1979) and Ark (1983), both of which illustrate her ability to combine a controlled formalism with sweeping, painterly freedom. Recently recognised in Whitechapel Gallery’s Action, Gesture, Paint: Women Artists and Global Abstraction 1940–70, Godwin’s work is now gaining long-overdue recognition for its role in reshaping abstraction.

We are very grateful to the artists, lenders and gallery teams for their generosity and collaboration on this exhibition. The exhibition is curated by Amelie von Wedel and Pernilla Holmes of Wedel Art.