Viewing The Sleepers at Murray Edwards College

At Murray Edwards College until February is this fascinating, nuanced and multilayered look at scenes of rest by women artists. Curated by Laura Moseley with curatorial support from Harriet Loffler it features works converging around ideas of sleeping, pausing, dreaming and contemplating by twelve artists from different generations, including Helen Cammock, Tracey Emin, Laura Footes and Celia Paul.

The exhibition delves deeper into changing perceptions and attitudes towards rest and who is able to access it. The exhibition begins, historically and conceptually, with three early 20th century prints by Gwen Raverat – an artist who lived in Cambridge and who returned constantly to the subject of sleeping in paintings and engravings.

Artists have returned to notions of rest to express shifting concerns with health, society, politics, family and creativity. Through various works made over a century, the exhibition also considers the way chronic illness and disability affects access to rest, and considers the contemporary crisis – particularly among women – with sleep quality.