In 1995, before the Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art was gifted to UWA, works selected from the Cruthers family’s collection of Australian art were exhibited at PICA as part of the National Women’s Art Exhibition project. In the Company of Women – 100 years of Australian women’s art from the Cruthers Collection, curated by Sarah Miller, was a turning point for the family, making them realise the public interest in the collection.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of PICA, leading Sydney based artist Agatha Gothe-Snape has been commissioned to present a site-specific response to the 1995 Cruthers Collection exhibition, and the intriguing result is Trying to Find Comfort in an Uncomfortable Chair. It features works from the Collection, chairs owned by the artworks’ creators, new work by Gothe-Snape and Gothe-Snape’s responses to the original exhibition. Curated by PICA Curator Charlotte Hickson and Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art Curator Gemma Weston, the exhibition runs from 27 July to 6 October at PICA.