Exhibition: Francesca Woodman

Francesca Woodman
17 November 2010- 22 January 2011

Victoria Miro

It is uncommon to encounter so many of Francesca Woodman’s (1958-1981) photographs in one exhibition. This show offers the opportunity to see almost one hundred of her works, including some that have never before been publicly displayed. Woodman is no doubt a fascinating figure, heralded posthumously as a significant female photographer by both feminist critics and curators. Although Woodman has been ideologically positioned amongst the likes of Ana Mendieta, Hannah Wilke and Carolee Schneeman, she is certainly the least conspicuous of the grouping. Her self-exploration through the repeated capturing of her own form, in addition to her suicide at the young age of twenty-two, makes her photography paradoxically alluring.

Certain themes and visual tags recur and coalesce throughout Woodman’s imagery, namely camouflage/invisibility, mirroring/doubling and water/fluidity. Located within these themes is the female form, almost always, in some way, responding to its surroundings. Sometimes this response is a contrast between the softness of the female nude with the harsh coldness of its surroundings. Or, in others, the disappearance of the nude as it visually dissolves into its environment.

Often the face of the naked figure is obscured through hair, movement blur or other means. For example, in Untitled, Providence, Rhode Island (1976) each naked girl is given a head shot of Woodman to hold in front of her face. Alongside one another the naked bodies are indistinguishable. By hiding the faces and in turn the identity of her female subjects, Woodman submits the body as decorative and this helps to emphasise the playful experimentation of her photography.

Viewing so many of Woodman’s photographs under one roof gives the visitor a comprehensive insight into Woodman’s very particular way of seeing. Their surreal quality, although at first seemingly orchestrated, are surprising in their oddness. Her photographs grapple with representation and reality and the sense of displacement that lies tense in the space in between.