Lecturer in Visual Communication (Contextual Studies)

  • Academic
  • Creative Education
Dr Lucy Howarth

Dr Lucy Howarth is a Lecturer in Visual Communication at UCA Canterbury, specializing in contextual studies. Her research interests include twentieth-century art, gender studies, and the European Constructivist movement. Lucy has a rich background in curatorial work, having collaborated with major institutions like Tate Britain and Leeds Art Gallery. Her work on the British Constructivist artist Marlow Moss has established her as a key figure in the field.

Bio

From an art school background in Fine Art, Lucy’s Art History PhD was on the queer British Constructivist artist Marlow Moss, and examined the intersection of modernist practice and postmodern legacy. Lucy’s interests are in contemporary arts practice and twentieth century art, craft and design. She has specialisms in the European Constructivist movement, British art, and representations of gender/identity. An ongoing research interest is in art school pedagogies and the formation of institutional histories and mythologies.

Lucy has taught contextual and theoretical studies for visual communication, fine art and art history students, at a number of UK universities, including Plymouth, York and now UCA.

Lucy has worked as a post-doc researcher and curator at art institutions including Tate Britain and Tate St. Ives, Hastings Contemporary, Leeds Art Gallery and Museum Haus Konstruktiv in Zürich. Her expertise on Marlow Moss makes her a point-of-call for museums and collections internationally, and she has contributed to acquisitions (for example in consultation with the Vrouwen van het Rijksmuseum research group, Amsterdam in 2023) exhibitions (recently with the Ben Uri Gallery in London, and currently working with Georg Kolbe Museum in Berlin) and film projects (such as the 2022 documentary De Verdwenen Lijnen van Marlow Moss dir. Fifi Visser and André van der Hout with the MuHKA in Antwerp).

Lucy has published writing, ranging from articles in academic journals and art magazines, and chapters in edited books, to exhibition publications and websites. She has peer-reviewed for academic journals. Lucy is an experienced speaker, having presented at galleries / museums and online for the general public, and at academic conferences (most recently at the University of Cambridge in 2022, see detailed list below) – and frequently delivering lectures to undergraduates. 

As a curator and writer, Lucy collaborates with artists, galleries and institutions developing critical contexts.

Research outputs

Selected publications:

Books:

  • Lucy Howarth, Marlow Moss, ‘Modern Women Artists’ series edited by Katy Norris, Chichester: Eiderdown Books, 2019.
  • Lucy Howarth ‘The Double-Line of Miss//Moss’, Marlow Moss: A Forgotten Maverick, Sabine Schaschl (ed.), Berlin: Hatje Cantz, 2017.
  • Lucy Howarth, ‘Marlow Moss: Dress Address Name’, Reflections on Female and Trans* Masculinities and Other Queer Crossings, Nina Kane and Jude Woods (eds.), Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, 2017.
  • Lucy Howarth, ‘Building: the New Chelsea’, pp.97-114, The London Art Schools: Reforming the Art World 1960 to Now, Nigel Llewellyn (ed.), London: Tate, 2015.

Articles:

Exhibition catalogues / other:

  • Lucy Howarth, ‘Signature Style’ in Sadie Hennessy, Dry Humping, Hastings: Ambitious Outsiders pp.35-41, 2023.
  • Lucy Howarth, Join the Club: Marlow Moss in the WIAC – publication/catalogue for the exhibition: “Sheer Verve”: The Women’s International Art Club (1898-1978), Sarah MacDougall (ed.); with Una Richmond and Mengting Yu. Ben Uri Gallery & Museum, Sep-Dec 2023.
  • Lucy Howarth, ‘Sitting for Susanne’ in Susanne du Toit, Painting Women Writers, p.117, Eiderdown Books, 2023.
  • Lucy Howarth, Leigh Clarke: Last Night at the Bingo, essay for poster/publication, design by Tim Hutchinson, University of the Arts London for Margate:NOW Festival, September 2019.
  • Lucy Howarth, Leigh Clarke: The Syrian, essay for poster/publication, design by Tim Hutchinson, University of the Arts London, for Whitstable Biennale, June 2018.
  • Lucy Howarth, ‘Andrew Bick: Shifting Shapes’, Von Bartha Report No.12/2018, Galerie Von Bartha, Basel, Switzerland, essay to accompany exhibition: gate/grid/tree/ (notes/on/concrete) April 14th - May 26th 2018.
  • Lucy Howarth, Moss, Maths, Music – text for 'White On White' by Primitive World, Ecstatic Recordings, sleeve notes, released February 2018.

Selected conference papers / lectures:

  • 4 Oct 2023 – Join the Club: Marlow Moss in the WIAC and the feminism/constructivism conundrum; “Sheer Verve”: The Women’s International Art Club Ben Uri Gallery, live zoom lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0xWG3Wz8z0
  • 17th Jul 2023 – "Man, woman or vegetable growth?"; The Last Tuesday Society, live zoom lecture: https://thelasttuesdaysociety.org/event/man-woman-or-vegetable-growth-lucy-howarth-on-rediscovering-marlow-moss/
  • 28th April 2022 – Patchwork Art Blankets by Refugee Women: ‘Femmage’; at the Symposium: ‘Weaving Cultural and Personal Memory’, The Women’s Art Collection, Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyveBdLee1A
  • 18th Mar 2021 – Modern Women Artists: Marlow Moss; Five Leaves Bookshop and Eiderdown Books, with Harriet Olsen, supported by Arts Council England. Live zoom lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btg4qk1a1fQ
  • 7th Mar 2020 – Marlow Moss: Explorer, Artist, Rebel; Powell Cotton Museum, Quex Park, Inspiring Women: POW Thanet Festival.
  • 14th Nov 2019 – Marlow Moss: Trailblazer; Pallant House.
  • 6th Oct 2019 – Introducing Miss Moss; Farleys House and Gallery.
  • 6th Sep 2019 – Hidden In Plain Sight: New Feminist Publishing; London Art Book Fair, Whitechapel Gallery.
  • 29th June 2019 – 50/50: Balancing the Scale in Favour of Women Artists; BAN / BWA AGM University of Leeds.
  • 13th June 2019 – Leigh Clarke’s ‘The Syrian’: a contemporary print discourse; The Arts Society, London.
  • 1st March 2017 – Miss/Moss: British Constructivist; Delivered at Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zürich.
  • 24th June 2015 – Marlow Moss, British Modernist; delivered as part of the Special Lecture Series, The Wilson Art Gallery & Museum, Cheltenham.
  • 14th March 2015 – Marlow Moss at Tate Britain; delivered at Tate Britain, London.
  • 12th July 2014 – CONVERSATIONS AROUND MARLOW MOSS; talk and tour, with artists and curators, &Model Gallery / Leeds Art Gallery.
  • 17th June 2014 – Dress Address Name: Fashioning the Modernist Self; presented at the conference ‘AGender: Female and Transgender Masculinities’, followed by exhibition tour, Leeds Art Gallery.
  • 12th June 2014 – Marlow Moss: a British Artist; presented at the symposium ‘Parallel Lives: Marlow Moss and Claude Cahun’, Leeds Art Gallery.
  • 11th Sep 2014 – Art School Building: the Old/New Chelsea; presented at the conference: ‘Art School Educated’,  Tate Britain.
  • 7th Nov 2013 – Marlow Moss 1889-1958, Members Talk, delivered at the Jerwood Gallery Hastings.
  • 21st Sep 2013 – Chair’s introduction, and lecture: Exile and Home; Marlow Moss Study Day, Tate St Ives.
  • 3rd May 2011 – Art School Building; delivered at the Twentieth Century British Art Forum, Tate Britain.
  • 31st March 2011 – Purpose-Built: the Architecture of the Art School; presented at the Culture Lab symposium: ‘Modern Ruins’, Newcastle University.
  • 19th June 2010 – Fashioning the Modernist Self; Presented at the conference: ‘No Hawkers: No Models: The Vicissitudes of the Modernist Muse’, English Colloquium #15, University of Westminster.
  • 20th Oct 2008 – Women Modernists and the Image of the Artist; part of the Art History Department Public Lecture Series, University of Plymouth.
Dr Lucy Howarth