THE AUDACITY
4th July, 2025 -27th July, 2025
Boxpark Shoreditch Gallery
A radical new exhibition celebrating the female gaze opens this July with performance art, community workshops, and unapologetic self-expression
London’s creative landscape is about to get louder, bolder, and decidedly more audacious. This July, Boxpark Shoreditch will transform into a feminist powerhouse as photographer and performance artist STEFDIES (Stephanie Leigh Rose) presents “STEFDIES With Friends: THE AUDACITY – The Female Gaze & Taking Up Space,” a groundbreaking group exhibition featuring 21 UK-based female artists.
Running from 4-27 July, the show promises to be anything but conventional. Part gallery exhibition, part community hub, part radical act of resistance, THE AUDACITY challenges women to do exactly what society often discourages: take up space without apology.
Karen Turner
“In a world where women are told to be smaller, quieter, younger, this is the audacity of doing the opposite,” explains Leigh Rose, the multi-disciplinary artist behind the Instagram-famous STEFDIES project. “This show is absurd, emotional, and joyful. It’s a big, loud invitation to take up space without apology.”
The exhibition’s opening night will feature the show’s signature event: a participatory mass “die-in” performance where all 21 artists are invited to lie face-down in solidarity. This performance art, originally pioneered by Leigh Rose as part of her anti-selfie movement, has garnered global acclaim for its hilarious yet emotional commentary on presence and resistance.
But THE AUDACITY extends far beyond traditional gallery walls. The multi-sensory experience weaves together 12 solo wall installations, ground murals, tactile textile works, pottery, and fashion into what organisers describe as a “living, breathing feminist ecosystem.” Daily programming includes artist-led workshops covering painting and collage, live painting sessions, yoga and massage pop-ups, and dedicated mother-and-baby mornings.
Louise Nordh
Among the featured artists are Karen Turner, celebrated for her emotionally charged portraiture exploring the female form, and Willow Stacey, whose multimedia practice interrogates objectification with both humour and intensity. The roster also spotlights several emerging artists from underrepresented communities, hand-selected for their boundary-pushing work.
The driving force behind this artistic revolution is Leigh Rose herself, whose STEFDIES alter ego has amassed over 80,000 Instagram followers by lying face-down in locations ranging from the mundane to the extraordinary. What began as a personal response to experiences with sexism, racism, and ageism has evolved into something subversive, humorous, and deeply communal.
Armed with an MFA in classical theatre and performance art, Leigh Rose has collaborated with globally recognized institutions while championing eco-activism, motherhood, and alternative cultural spaces. Her philosophy of radical visibility, collective care, and unapologetic self-expression infuses every aspect of THE AUDACITY.
Delphine Lebourgeois
This exhibition marks the debut of what Leigh Rose hopes will become an ongoing creative movement, offering sustainable, inclusive platforms for female artists to flourish beyond institutional constraints. Future plans include long-term residencies, mentorship programs, and collaborative exhibitions under The Audacity banner.
In an era where female voices continue fighting to be heard, THE AUDACITY offers something refreshing: permission to be loud, to take up space, and to do so without shame. As Leigh Rose puts it, sometimes the most radical act is simply refusing to shrink.
Participating artists:
STEFDIES
Caroline Banks
Natacha Bisarre
Lene Bladbjerg
Inkteraktiv
Jody DeSchutter
Jessica Dunn
Lucy SM Johnston
Courtenay Kusitor
Danic Lago
Delphine Lebourgeois
Lauren Ly
Louise Nordh
Yuria Orellana
Ansley Randall
Constance Regardsoe
Rosie Rushton
Pippa Smith
Willow Stacey
Karen Turner
Kayleigh Young
THE AUDACITY runs from 4-27 July at Boxpark Shoreditch Gallery, with regular hours Monday-Friday 12-7pm and weekends 1-7pm. Special extended sessions run 9am-12pm and 7-9pm. The celebration culminates with a closing event on Saturday, 26 July.
©2025 Boxpark Shoreditch Gallery
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