Image Not Available
After
Helen Chadwick
, British, 1953-1996
Title
One Flesh, 2003Date2003
MediumC-type print
Dimensions
40.5 × 30.5 cm
Signedon verso, upper right, Helen Chadwick/©Helen Chadwick Estate [stamp]
Credit LinePresented, Zelda Cheatle, 2024
Object numberNGI.2024.71.3
DescriptionHelen Chadwick (1953-96) was a British sculptor, photographer and installation artist. She was an influential practitioner in the last quarter of the twentieth century and developed a new visual language about identity. The image ‘One Flesh’ is a homage to Helen Chadwick, who died in 1996, aged 42. The photograph in this portfolio was made in 2003 based on her 1985 ‘camera-less’ photographic collage now in the collection of the V&A Museum, London. The work was composed from Chadwick’s original negatives by Zelda Cheatle, and David Notarius, Chadwick’s widower, in homage to her life and work.
‘One Flesh’ represents a Madonna-like figure, and a female child in a collage of photocopies from of her own body from life. This entailed her physically lying upon the photocopier, as she had done for her series ‘The Oval Court’. The photocopies have been assembled to create this unique work of art that examines physicality, identity and the boundaries between the beautiful and the grotesque.
This image is part of a portfolio of 30 photographs published by Zelda Cheatle in 2003 to celebrate 15 years of exhibitions in her London gallery. The artists included in this collection reflect Cheatle’s aim to highlight the work of important twentieth century photographers while at the same time exhibiting and supporting emerging artists. The photographs range from digital prints to silver gelatin prints and cyanotypes.
ProvenancePresented, Zelda Cheatle, 2024Exhibition HistoryZelda Cheatle Gallery , London, 2003