Helen CHADWICK British, 1953-1996
I Thee Wed, 1993
Painted bronze vegetables and fur, on a glass top painted plywood plinth, in five parts
Each: 24 x 4 x 4 cm (diameter)
Overall: 85 x 152 x 60 cm
Overall: 85 x 152 x 60 cm
Edition 5 of 10
I Thee Wed refers to the body – specifically the fingers – with five realistic bronze casts of bitter melon each fitted with a ‘ring’ of fur. The fourth finger,...
I Thee Wed refers to the body – specifically the fingers – with five realistic bronze casts of bitter melon each fitted with a ‘ring’ of fur. The fourth finger, the traditional ‘ring finger’ for Western wedding ceremonies, stays rather decidedly off. A play on the rules and traditions of matrimony, her use of the phallic form of the bitter melon further alludes to the sex - an allusion to condoms and cock rings. Working in the midst of the AIDS crisis, many of Chadwick’s work are informed by and explore sex and STDs / viruses.
Exhibitions
Dreamers Awake, White Cube, London, 2017In order to join: the political in a historical moment, Museum Abteiberg, Monchengladbach, Germany, 2013
Works from the Estate, Richard Saltoun Gallery, London, 2013
LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME Favourites from the Collections, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland, 2005
Helen Chadwick: A Retrospective, Barbican Art Gallery, London, 2004. This exhibition travelled to Manchester City Art Museum, Manchester, UK; Kunstmuseet Trapholt, Kolding, Denmark and Liljevalchs Art Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden.
Material Matters, Norrköpings konstmuseum, Norrköping, 2002. This exhibition travelled to, Kunsthallen Brandts Klaedefabrik, Odense, Denmark.
Puheenvuoroja, Nykytaiteen museon kokoelmaripustus, Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki, Finland, 1998
Abstrakt/Real, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna, Austria, 1996
Bad Blooms, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, 1995. This exhibition travelled to Norrköping Art Museum, Norrköping, Sweden; Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN and Uppsala Museum of Art, Uppsala, Sweden.
Bad Girls, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, UK, 1994
effluvia Helen Chadwick, Serpentine Gallery, London, 1993
Literature
Niamh Coghlan and Louisa Green (eds.), Helen Chadwick: Wreaths to Pleasure, London 2014Leonie O'Dwyer, Helen Chadwick: a critical catalogue raisonné, Leeds 2012 (illustrated in colour, no. 150).(illustrated in colour, p. 56).
Bad Girls. ICA, London, 1993. (illustrated p.17)
effluvia: Helen Chadwick. Serpentine Gallery, London, 1994. (illustrated p.12)