Marina Warner introduces her book: 'Helen Chadwick: The Oval Court'

6 Dec 2022 6-8pm

Helen Chadwick

Overview

In 1986 the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London showed On Mutability, a new, two-part commission by the artist Helen Chadwick (1954–1996). The installation interwove some of Chadwick’s characteristic motifs – the female body (her own), the aesthetics of pleasure, the material variety and wonder of natural phenomena – and approached them in a spirit of provocative, radical and lavish flamboyance.

During the talk, Marina Warner will examine The Oval Court, one part of the ICA commission. Despite being recognised as a feminist monument of rare intensity, this work has rarely been shown or discussed since the author's catalogue essay for the original exhibition. Exploring The Oval Courts's richly layered composition, Warner will show how Chadwick's imagination has shaped many artists' ideas and ethics, and how she helped to shift conventional aesthetics and transvalue despised, even abominated forms.

To reserve a place, please RSVP to [email protected]. Walk ins welcome until capacity is reached.

The book is available to pre-order through our website at https://www.richardsaltoun.com/publications/106-helen-chadwick-the-oval-court-by-marina-warner/. 

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