Catrine Val — The Changing Room: Portraits of Contemporary Women in Britain

10 Jan 2019 - 23 March 2019

Leading up to and celebrating International Women’s Day 2019, Departure Lounge and Luton Culture have invited artist Catrine Val to create insightful new photographic and video portraits of women living in the Luton area. Inspired by Luton’s unique diversity, and by the fluid relationships between the town’s many communities and cultures, Val creates an acutely observed, highly personalised collective portrait of what it is to be a woman in 21st-century Britain.

Val’s exquisite portraits focus on the important part that clothing plays in personal and cultural identity. Based on the question “Who are you, and who do you want to be?”, she elevates the daily fashion choices made by Luton’s women to the level seen in the pages of Vogue or Marie Claire and encourages them to re-imagine themselves and their place in the world.

The Changing Room is funded by the Luton Arts Fund and Arts Council England. It is organised by Departure Lounge in collaboration with Luton Culture and is part of As You Change, So Do I a three-year programme of public art events funded by Arts Council England’s Luton Investment Programme.

The Changing Room | Press Release