In this drama, four friends attend a cocktail party at the National Gallery and after a few too many drinks, they dare each other to get locked in the gallery overnight.
Hiding in the bathrooms, they wait until the crowds have left and the doors have been locked, before slinking through the spooky quiet of the empty gallery space.
They’ve done it! Now it’s time for the real party.
However, as they explore the hallowed halls, they are confronted by the fact that only 25% of art works in the Australian collection are by women artists.
Rifling behind the scenes, they uncover forgotten and under-celebrated works of art, as well as scandalous tales of sexism.
Stories of women artists who have been pilloried for daring to paint subjects deemed masculine, ridiculed for expressing sexuality in their work or expecting the same opportunities as their male counterparts.
Outraged, the friends are inspired to bring work by female artists out of the shadows and into the light, smuggling canvases from the storage vaults up into the main gallery.
Using hammer and nails, they ram home their point and as a result, share with us a new perspective on Australian Art.
The Exhibitionists marks the zenith of ABC Arts’ Know My Name campaign, a collaboration with the National Gallery of Australia, which celebrates and raises awareness of women artists and creators.
