Helen Chadwick
| Helen Chadwick | |
|---|---|
Helen Chadwick
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| Born |
Helen Clare Chadwick 18 May 1953 Croydon, England |
| Died | 15 March 1996 (aged 42) Camden, London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Croydon College, University of Brighton, Chelsea College of Art |
| Known for | Conceptual art, installation art |
Helen Chadwick (18 May 1953 – 15 March 1996) was a British sculptor, photographer and installation artist. In 1987, she became one of the first women artists to be nominated for the Turner Prize. Chadwick was known for "challenging stereotypical perceptions of the body in elegant yet unconventional forms. Her work draws from a range of sources, from myths to science, grappling with a plethora of unconventional, visceral materials that included chocolate, lambs tongues and rotting vegetable matter. Her skilled use of traditional fabrication methods and sophisticated technologies transform these unusual materials into complex installations.Maureen Paley noted that "Helen was always talking about craftsmanship—a constant fount of information". Binary oppositions was a strong theme in Chadwick's work; seductive/repulsive, male/female, organic/man-made. Her combinations "emphasise yet simultaneously dissolve the contrasts between them". Her gender representations forge a sense of ambiguity and a disquieting sexuality blurring the boundaries of ourselves as singular and stable beings."
Helen Chadwick was born May 18th 1953 in Croydon, England. Her mother was a Greek refugee and her father from east London. Her parents met in Athens, Greece during World War II and moved to live in Croydon in 1946. After she left school she embarked on a Fine Art Foundation course at Croydon College then went on to study at Brighton Polytechnic (1973-6). Chadwick recalled, "Traditional media were never dynamic enough… right from early on in art school, I wanted to use the body to create a set of inter-relationships with the audience". Chadwick’s degree show: Domestic Sanitation (1976) consisted of her and three other women in latex costumes painted directly on to the skin. The four women engage a satirical feminist round of cleaning and grooming. In 1976 she moved to Hackney and enrolled in a Masters at Chelsea College of Art (1976-7). In 1977 Chadwick and two dozen other artists moved into Beck Road, Hackney, a double strip of Victorian terraces that was earmarked for demolition. After squatting for two years they persuaded the Inner London Education Authority to rent, rather than demolish, the houses. Beck Road became a hive of home studios whose residents included Maureen Paley Ray Walker and Genesis P-Orridge.
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