Francesca Woodman 1958-1981
“Am I in the picture? Am I getting in or out of it? I could be a ghost, an animal or a dead body, not just this girl standing on the corner…?” – Francesca Woodman, Personal Journal
Born in Denver, Colarado in 1958, Francesca Woodman trained at the Rhode Island School of Design and in Rome (1977-78). After her return to the US, she worked as a photographer in New York until her suicide at the age of twenty-two.
Woodman’s remarkable black and white photographs frequently depict the female form and feature the artist as well as other – mostly female – models. These images are often staged in dilapidated interior spaces where the human body is allowed to merge and blend with its surroundings. She produced unconventional portraits and self-portraits in which faces are often blurred or concealed. These ghost-like images create an eerie sense of psychological unease.
Despite her tragically curtailed career, Woodman produced a considerable body of work marked by an accomplished and innovative technique. Over the last thirty years, Woodman has gained a reputation as an extraordinary and important photographer. Her work has been exhibited internationally, at venues including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Photographers’ Gallery, The Douglas Hyde Gallery, and Rome’s Palazzo delle Esposizioni. Zigzag, the exhibition of Woodman’s photography at Victoria Miro Mayfair until 4th October, explores geometrical forms as a recurring theme in her photography and includes ten works which have been newly released from the artist’s estate.
Click on the first image below to begin slideshow.
