My House, Providence, Rhode Island
Francesca Woodman
Photo: Courtesy George & Betty Woodman | Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
Collection
Gelatin silver print (2008)
14.4 x 14.3 cm (unframed)
41.8 x 41.8 x 2 cm (framed)
As the model for the majority of her photographs, Francesca Woodman (b. Denver, Colorado, 1958) is frequently referred to as the author and subject of her work. In various, but often empty or ruinous settings, she appears against peeling wallpaper or scrunched into the crumbling corners of vacant rooms. However, the range with which she depicted herself in processes of transformation, movement, contortion and defacement, using long-exposure and sometimes concealed by materials taken from her surroundings, make her works more than experiments in self-portraiture. Documenting active attempts to blur or obfuscate the appearance of her own particular identity, her images seem to represent trials of her medium and artistic imagination, as much as they do studies of the self. Disrupting the standard notion of photography as a medium of truth, at times it seems her surreal constructions seek to evade the lens, and purposively exploit the camera’s shortcomings in a way that leaves us questioning the validity of the medium as a tool for journalism. By embracing what might be considered technical deficiencies such as blurred imagery in order to depict movement and evoke ephemeral, angelic and ghostly presences, she worked to highlight photography’s artistic capabilities at a time when it was not yet taken seriously in the realm of contemporary art. In fact, those who knew Woodman intimately have made efforts to emphasise the more playful, experimental and light-hearted aspects of her general attitude towards art-making, dissuading viewers from allowing her death at the age of 22 to overshadow, or be read back onto, her body of work. In doing so, they have helped to develop an understanding of Woodman’s practice as one grounded in love and enthusiasm, and helped to sustain the wide range of interpretations, and formalist, feminist and conceptual readings, that her work continues to generate.–Elsa Gray
14.4 x 14.3 cm (unframed)
41.8 x 41.8 x 2 cm (framed)
As the model for the majority of her photographs, Francesca Woodman (b. Denver, Colorado, 1958) is frequently referred to as the author and subject of her work. In various, but often empty or ruinous settings, she appears against peeling wallpaper or scrunched into the crumbling corners of vacant rooms. However, the range with which she depicted herself in processes of transformation, movement, contortion and defacement, using long-exposure and sometimes concealed by materials taken from her surroundings, make her works more than experiments in self-portraiture. Documenting active attempts to blur or obfuscate the appearance of her own particular identity, her images seem to represent trials of her medium and artistic imagination, as much as they do studies of the self. Disrupting the standard notion of photography as a medium of truth, at times it seems her surreal constructions seek to evade the lens, and purposively exploit the camera’s shortcomings in a way that leaves us questioning the validity of the medium as a tool for journalism. By embracing what might be considered technical deficiencies such as blurred imagery in order to depict movement and evoke ephemeral, angelic and ghostly presences, she worked to highlight photography’s artistic capabilities at a time when it was not yet taken seriously in the realm of contemporary art. In fact, those who knew Woodman intimately have made efforts to emphasise the more playful, experimental and light-hearted aspects of her general attitude towards art-making, dissuading viewers from allowing her death at the age of 22 to overshadow, or be read back onto, her body of work. In doing so, they have helped to develop an understanding of Woodman’s practice as one grounded in love and enthusiasm, and helped to sustain the wide range of interpretations, and formalist, feminist and conceptual readings, that her work continues to generate.–Elsa Gray
Francesca Stern Woodman (April 3, 1958 – January 19, 1981) was an American photographer best known for her black and white pictures featuring either herself or female models.
Many of her photographs show women, naked or clothed, blurred (due to movement and long exposure times), merging with their surroundings, or whose faces are obscured.
Her work continues to be the subject of much positive critical attention, years after her death at the age of 22, in 1981.[1][2][3][4][5]
This biography is from Wikipedia under an Attribution-ShareAlike Creative Commons License.
Many of her photographs show women, naked or clothed, blurred (due to movement and long exposure times), merging with their surroundings, or whose faces are obscured.
Her work continues to be the subject of much positive critical attention, years after her death at the age of 22, in 1981.[1][2][3][4][5]
This biography is from Wikipedia under an Attribution-ShareAlike Creative Commons License.