FOAM to Host a Retrospective Exhibition of Francesca Woodman’s Photography (NSFW)

Francesca Woodman, Self Deceit 1, Rome, Italy, 1978 © Betty and George Woodman

Francesca Woodman, Untitled, Rome, Italy, 1977-79 © Betty and George Woodman

American photographer Francesca Woodman (1958-1981) began experimenting with photography in her early teens. She studied at Rhode Island School of Design, then spent a year in Rome, and finally moved to New York City in attempt to build a career out of her photography. During this period she produced masses of images and following her death, left behind over 800 works. Photography for Woodman was ultimately a means of self-expression, and she remains the focal point in most of her photographic work, though occasionally others do appear in the frame. Her photos are hugely evocative as they are both disturbing and incredibly beautiful at the same time.

Blur and motion obscure her nude body, in the same way that she attempts to hide in shrouds of fabric or loose rolls of wallpaper in the decaying room that is the backdrop of so many of her shots. She once said, “I am so vain, I am so masochistic – how can they coexist?” highlighting this tug-of-war complexity between vanity and humility. Shot in monochrome, her naked body appears vulnerable and pure as she addresses themes such as gender, representation, corporality, and sexuality. Woodman’s blurred, ghostly form in the decaying room gives the impression that she is only half there in the frame, never fully present – an indecisiveness that is echoed in the following extract from her personal diary: “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 died at the age of 22, so she was never able to witness the widespread recognition and influence her photos have had, and still have on today’s art community. Her photos remain a legacy and stand as a testament to her artistic vision and her remarkable eye for composition, light, and shade.

To conclude the year 2015, FOAM will be hosting a retrospective exhibition of Woodman’s work, which will be open from 18th December 2015 to 9th March 2016. The exhibition, organized by the Moderna Museet in Stockholm in collaboration with the Estate of Francesca Woodman, will consist of 102 photographs, mainly gelatine silver prints but also several large-format diazotype prints and six short videos.

Francesca Woodman, From Space 2, Providence, Rhode Island, 1976 © Betty and George Woodman

Francesca Woodman, On Being an Angel 1, Providence, Rhode Island, 1977 © Betty and George Woodman

Francesca Woodman, Self-portrait Talking to Vince, Providence, Rhode Island, 1977 © George and Betty Woodman

Francesca Woodman, Untitled, MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire, 1980 © George and Betty Woodman

Francesca Woodman, Untitled, New York, 1979 © Betty and George Woodman

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