Inspired by the grand Pere-Lachaises in Paris, Kensal Green Cemetery was the first of the "Magnificent Seven" garden-style cemeteries created in London in the Victorian era. The final resting place of more than 700 notable personalities, including civil engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, mathematician Charles Babbage and numerous fellows of the Royal Society, it is also remarkable for the often unsung women buried here, among them Lord Byron's wife, Anne Isabella, and Jane Wilde, the mother of playwright Oscar.
It is such figures that have inspired a series of exhibitions throughout 2017, the first of which takes place at the newly launched Dissenters' Gallery. The cultural space is part of the historical chapel of the same name within the grounds, one of 130 listed buildings across the 72-acre site and one of the first ever purpose-built nonconformist chapels in a public cemetery.
This freethinking spirit is carried through in the first show, which highlights the work of Nadine Talalla. Exploring female archetypes and tragedy, she paints what she refers to as "ugly women" - those who have not conformed to what is considered a male standard of perfection throughout history - and takes inspiration from periods such as the Regency and later Victorian eras, both in terms of artistic style and contradictions in the moral attitudes towards women at the time. She also draws on her own personal feeling of dislocation, having grown-up between Australia, Malaysia, China and the UK.
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The exhibition runs from 26 January until 3 February and marks the first instalment of Haunted Beauty, a series dedicated to showcasing emerging female talent through a mix of art, talks and events at this unique new gallery.
Haunted Beauty with Nadine Talalla is showing at the Dissenters' Gallery from 26 January 2017 to 3 February 2017; dissentersgallery.com
