LONDON.- This festive season, leading contemporary art gallery Reem Gallery, from 6th December – 24th December 2022 present “Women to Watch” – a group exhibition of some of the most exciting female artists currently working in London. Set to be a hotly anticipated glimpse into the untapped glory and rising talent of London’s budding female artists working in the city right now. The exhibition works across a diverse array of mediums and voices traversing a spectrum of subjects and themes.

It features work by Laxmi Hussain, Lauren Baker, Tia O’Donnell, Phoebe Boddy, Dawn Beckles, Emily Penfold, Selby HI, The Cameron Twins, Bambi, Dirtee Murfee and more. Expect poetic neons, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, figurative and still-life paintings, protest art, street art and pop-culture Barbies, Trolls and My Little Ponies in a dazzling ensemble of riotous refrain. Barack Obama and Stephen Fry are reportedly fans of Layla Andrews’ abstract expressionist portraits.

Women make up 52% of the global population and yet have the economic, social, and creative privileges of an oppressed minority to varying degrees across the world. This is no different in the specific realm of art galleries. In a 2017 article by ArtNet News titled “The 4 glass ceilings: how women artists get stifled at every stage of their career”, it was quoted that “Only 13.7% of living artists represented by galleries in Europe and North America are women.” 5 years later, and Forbes recently wrote that despite a noticeable increase in interest in art by female artists, there is still a $192B gap in the amount spent on male vs female artists at auction. The Global Art Market Report of 2019 (Art Basel/ UBS) wrote that almost half of the 3,050 galleries on Artsy represent 25% or fewer women, and this is all despite women making up the majority of art school graduates (women are 64% of art school undergraduates in the UK but are only 32% of the artists with top commercial gallery representation in London).

Laxmi Hussain looks at the complex relationship women have with their bodies using only the humble continuous line in her signature colour, ultra-marine blue. Her Matisse-esque female forms celebrate the diversity of the female body and advocate the acceptance of all female bodies as beautiful in a playful rhythmic way.

Dawn Beckles’ use of paint, print making, and collage create bold depictions of the domestic: the exotic flora inspired by her native Barbados, paralleled with found images of man-made beauty, as well as uninhabited interiors celebrate the quiet moments of everyday life.

Lauren Baker’s signature glowing pink neon works portray the power of energy through her poetic typographic and celestial chakra artworks.

Bambi is the anonymous London Street Artist famous for her gritty stencil and aerosol spray paint work. Initially hailed by David Dimbleby as ‘the female Banksy,’ Bambi has evolved into her own unique brand of artist-provocateur, tackling themes of feminism, street violence, political injustice and popular culture with wit and irony.




The Cameron Twins are 2022’s female incarnation of the 90s sensationalist artists, The Chapman Brothers. Their work is inspired by the iconic pop-culture references from childhood, which include Barbie, Trolls and My Little Pony. Their bright and juvenile colour palette seeks to create an intentionally misleading cheerful aesthetic which is then juxtaposed with the more sinister tones and darker imagery that is revealed upon closer inspection.

Autobiographical and multi-disciplinary artist, Tia O’Donnell’s work is a bold, colourful mashup of illustration, fine art and very witty text. She became an internet sensation when her graduate work went viral. The Central Saint Martin’s Fine arts graduate protested against the treatment of students during the COVID-19 pandemic at her graduation ceremony. Disillusioned and fed up with having to a fine arts degree online she appropriately demanded a refund.

Selbi HI is an emerging textile artist who is fast becoming a leading name in the field. Her textile pieces of cats capture physical emotional states of security, safety and comfort, whilst remaining playful and kitsch – using the technique of tufting, which she chooses to do by hand in order to connect herself more intimately with the work.

Phoebe Boddy’s fine art practice revolves around food and flavour, and the art of connecting the sensory experiences of viewing art with tasting food. Her large-scale paintings are brimming with energy and experimental brush marks that convey an array of interesting ‘delicious’ textures.