Su Richardson 1947

Richardson’s pioneering work saw her contribute to two of the most important art groups of the 1970s - the mail art project ‘Feministo’ and the feminist art collective ‘Fenix.’ She was instrumental in co-organising the Postal Art Event, which aimed to connect women in different cities across the country through exchange of artworks in the post. It evolved into the ground-breaking project ‘Feministo’ and a series of exhibitions and installations around the UK, including the acclaimed presentation ‘Portrait of the Artist as Housewife’ at the ICA, London in 1977. In the intervening years, Richardson consciously combined her art with homemaking and raising a family, while working as an art and design teacher, arts administrator, and latterly a client advisor and receptionist in the health sector. She therefore combines experiences of arts, health work and women’s’ rights. Her work acts as a precursor both to contemporary countercultures such as guerrilla knitting and to a younger generations of artists who combine domestic objects with visual puns.