“For the people hear us singing: Bread and Roses! Bread and Roses!”
Bread and Roses was a poem written in 1912 by James Oppenheim, about women and children striking for better wages and working conditions.
The metaphor of Bread and Roses is that we all need bread to feed our bodies, but we also need to be nourished by life’s roses: art, music, literature, education, and nature.
As the cost-of-living crisis continues, dot-art wanted to curate a group exhibition that showcases the best of affordable art. This show is dedicated to featuring original works under £200 and limited editions under £100. Owning art does not have to break the bank and quality artworks do not have to have eye watering prices.
This exhibition features a wide array of imagery and styles from over 20 dot-art Artist Members. On display you will find still life, cyanotypes, abstract paintings, lithographs, and charcoal portraits. A show for everyone, ranging from the traditional to the conceptual.
Artists such as Caroline Race have responded to the history of the poem and its historical moment. “I have produced a series of affordable paper lithographs on kozo tissue with 22 carat gold leaf embossed onto Fabriano print paper. A series of objects representing the strength of women and their fight for fairness and equality during the suffragette movement of the early 1900’s. I am using warm red tones to represent the blood spilt during their fight, the gold leaf representing their struggle for equal pay and fairer working conditions.”
Susan Cantrill Williams reflects on her personal connection to this exhibition’s theme. “My bread was provided by my Grandmother Hanna Pritchard, an active member of the labour party who marched for women’s rights in Birmingham and ran her own business in a rough part of Aston. She enabled education for my mother and art education for myself, allowing us to experience the roses.”
At dot-art, they are always affordable and have payment plans for works over £250 because they know the value of treasuring special pieces of art by local artists, so do their very best to create the best buying conditions for art lovers.
As the poem says: “Hearts starve as well as bodies; bread and roses, bread and roses”.
All artworks are for sale.
Join us for the Private View of the exhibition on Thursday 4th April from 5pm-7pm.
All welcome, but please register here: dot-art-breadandroses.
The dot-art Gallery can be found at 14 Queen Avenue, Castle Street, Liverpool, L2 4TX (just 5 minutes’ walk from Liverpool One).
Opening times: Tuesday – Saturday, 10am-6pm
The exhibition runs 5th April – 25th May 2024.