Femina Exhibition Celebrates Female Identity at Gallery 169

Nine female artists explore the complexities of womanhood through portraiture and self-portraiture in a two-day pop-up show.

Published on Feb. 28, 2026

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Tomorrow, Gallery 169 in Santa Monica, California, opens the exhibition FEMINA, curated and conceived by Sal Taylor Kydd. The exhibition features the work of nine female artists whose photographs explore the layered, evolving experience of womanhood. Through portraiture and self-portraiture, these photographers reclaim the gaze and turn it inward, offering an intimate and expansive meditation on female identity.

Why it matters

The exhibition brings together diverse perspectives on the female experience, challenging traditional objectified views of the female body and exploring how it feels from within - the pulse of interiority, the terrain of longing, resilience, desire, and becoming. By centering the voices of women artists, Femina provides a platform for reclaiming the narrative around female identity.

The details

Femina is a two-day pop-up exhibition featuring the work of nine female artists: Jo Ann Chaus, Sarah Hadley, Alexandra De Furio, Shari Yantra Marcacci, Aline Smithson, Sal Taylor Kydd, Catherine Just, Erica Kelly Martin, and Jennifer McClure. The exhibition opens on Saturday, February 21st, from 5–8 PM and the gallery will be open for viewing on both Saturday and Sunday from 10 -4pm.

  • The exhibition opens on Saturday, February 21st, 2026.
  • The gallery will be open for viewing on both Saturday and Sunday from 10 AM to 4 PM.

The players

Sal Taylor Kydd

The curator and conceptual artist behind the Femina exhibition. She is a Maine-based photographic artist and writer whose work interweaves photography, poetry, and alternative processes to explore themes of memory, belonging, and the passage of time.

Gallery 169

A gallery located in Santa Monica, California, that is hosting the Femina exhibition.

Jo Ann Chaus

One of the nine female artists featured in the Femina exhibition, whose work explores female stereotypes and archetypes.

Sarah Hadley

One of the nine female artists featured in the Femina exhibition, whose work invites the viewer into the interior lives of women through torn, ripped, and painted photographs.

Alexandra De Furio

One of the nine female artists featured in the Femina exhibition, whose self-portrait series reflects the power of the feminine and the unfolding of a braver self.

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What they’re saying

“These works ask us to consider how the female self can be seen, felt, and understood when authored by those who live its truth.”

— Sal Taylor Kydd, Curator (Lenscratch)

“The series reflects the power of the feminine and the unfolding of a braver self.”

— Alexandra De Furio, Artist (Lenscratch)

“By inverting tonal conventions, I offer another way of seeing, and by emphasizing gesture over environment, the myths enter the present.”

— Erica Kelly Martin, Artist (Lenscratch)

What’s next

The Femina exhibition will be open to the public on Saturday, February 21st and Sunday, February 22nd, 2026.

The takeaway

Femina provides a powerful platform for female artists to reclaim the narrative around female identity, offering diverse perspectives that challenge traditional objectified views and explore the complexities of womanhood from an intimate, introspective lens.