Francesca Woodman is one of the most distinctive photographers of the last 50 years. She died in 1981 aged just 22, but during her brief yet extraordinary career she created an enduring body of photographic work that continues to fascinate and influence today.
The figure of Woodman herself appears frequently in these exquisitely odd and unsettling photographs, in some her body seems to blend into the surroundings: caught in a state of metamorphosis - she is not quite here, nor quite there. In other images she uses a variety of props to create strange and dreamlike tableaux, tinted with uncertainty, melancholy, and a sense of ethereal timelessness.
This exhibition of 27 silver gelatin prints, presented with our grateful thanks to the Woodman Estate, coincides with an exhibition of 18 works by Francesca Woodman, once owned by her boyfriend, which are on show from March 14 – November 2009 at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art as part of the newly unveiled series of Artist’s Rooms drawn from the Anthony d’Offay Bequest. Concurrently, at the Espacio AV centre for contemporary art in Murcia, Spain, there is a large retrospective of Francesca Woodman’s photographic and video work (26 February – 17 May).
This exhibition has been organised in collaboration with the Woodman Estate, with thanks to Victoria Miro Gallery, London.
Francesca Woodman
Past exhibition