Don’t Worry, I’ll Only Show You the Good Parts

City Hall Art Gallery (Ottawa)

March 13 – June 1, 2025

44.4 Mother/Artist Collective (Sarah Anderson, Jennifer Cherniack, Rebecca Clouâtre, Sarah Jane Estabrooks, Greta Grip, Sayward Johnson, Alexa Mazzarello, Karen Miller, Andrea Mueller, Kristine Nyborg, Lucie Raymond, and Victoria Solan)

 

Review by Sarah Cullen

 

 

 

 

 

44.4 is a collective of artist-mothers advocating for representation and support of mothers and caregivers in the arts. Formed in 2019, 44.4 is named after the dollar figure of the highest amount paid at auction for a painting by a woman artist—Georgia O’Keeffe’s Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1, which sold for $44.4 million in 2014.

 

Over the last 10 years, the conversations internationally around parenting (usually mothering) while maintaining an art practice have grown. The social turn to care has made its way through exhibitions, but this turn wasn’t explicitly about care towards a dependent child. This is starting to change, where now we see care towards a child as artistic subject matter or simply the condition of existence—such as parenting while maintaining (or trying to maintain) an art practice—coming to the forefront. 

 

Artists and curators in the U.K. have been having these conversations for some time. Hettie Judah’s books, Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood (and the accompanying Hayward touring show) and How Not to Exclude Artist Mothers (and other parents), as well as the rising popularity of the painter Caroline Walker and her centering of motherhood, birth, and domesticity, indicate a shift in interest towards, as well as a celebration of, the visibility of art and motherhood/care.  

 

 

 

 

In Canada, 44.4 is part of this shift. Their most recent exhibition, Don’t Worry, I’ll Only Show You the Good Parts, leads us through the many layers and emotions of being a mother.

 

I was drawn to Kristine Nyborg’s photo, Perfect Bound, which depicts three children laying together on a cozy warm bed. We see the backs of their heads as they share a book. A warm red glow emanates from their point of interest, contrasting with the cold winter scene outside. This simple, reassuring image tells us, “the kids are alright.” 

 

Andrea Mueller’s cookie cutters, hung from the wall like a garland, drew me back for another look. Titled Knead Nuance, each cookie cutter is painted a different colour on the inside, serving as a reminder of the difference and nuance amongst the repetition of domesticity and motherhood.

 

Alexa Mazzarello’s work Failure to Progress is a body of work exploring her experience birthing her first child during the COVID-19 lockdown. With a background in public health, Mazzarello’s work reminded me of anthropologist Sheila Kitzinger’s famous and powerful assertion that childbirth is cultural. The assumption that childbirth is natural cedes control to a process that is then taken over by the medical system. When we recognize childbirth as cultural, we can then advocate for better conditions for those who give birth. Mazzarello’s work is a call for this change. 

 

 

 

 

44.4 exhibits together, but they also host critique nights, discussion forums, social events, and other special projects. 44.4 is an important part of a growing conversation and they want us to join in on this conversation. 

 

I visited the exhibition on the eve of the opening party. The gallery was heaving with people spilling out into the main atrium. Bells were ringing (Sarah Jane Estabrooks’ work), yarn was intentionally being unravelled from a wall-mounted machine-knitted work (Greta Grip). Kids of all ages were weaving through the crowd. A toddler may or may not have left a handprint on a low hanging drawing. 

 

Hats off to the independent professional arts jury who chose 44.4 to exhibit in this public space. That evening, 44.4 definitely showed off their good parts—the artwork, but also the joyous inclusive community brought together because of their work and their efforts. Brava!

 

 

 

 

This review was written:

 

• In my head at the side of a kids soccer pitch
• While helping my child with school work
• While asking my child to clean up beans spilled on the floor and table (they didn’t, I had to do it)
• While staring at the huge pile of unwashed dishes
• In my head while making dinner and adding to the pile of unwashed dishes. 

 

 

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