Helen Chadwick: Life Pleasures at the Hepworth Wakefield
Maja Lorkowska, Exhibitions Editor
The Hepworth Wakefield will host a major retrospective of work by legendary artist Helen Chadwick (1953 – 1996). She is best known for her unique approach to sensuality and the body, both human and animal, leading to thought-provoking and visceral work.
Chadwick’s retrospective will map the development of her career, aesthetic and conceptual interests from work created for her degree show In the Kitchen (1977) all the way through to some of her best known sculptures such as Piss Flowers (1991–2).
Using unexpected materials throughout her oeuvre, Chadwick often focused on feminist issues with humour and playfulness. Chadwick incorporated bodily fluids, meat, flowers, compost, fabric, lightbulbs, chocolate and many other components into her works, often questioning ideas of beauty by adding an element of repulsion. Her innovative thinking led to her being one of the first women to be nominated for the Turner prize in 1987.
Helen Chadwick: Life Pleasures is a fantastic opportunity to see this iconic artist’s work in the North, and discovering the impact she had on both her contemporaries, and the course of international contemporary art since.
