Francesca Woodman (b.1958-1981) was born in Denver, Colorado and was raised in an environment where artmaking was a part of her everyday life. Both of her parents were artists. Her father, George Woodman, was a painter and photographer and her mother, Betty Woodman, was a ceramicist and sculptor. Artists including Richard Serra and David Hockney often visited the Woodman’s home. Francesca Woodman found inspiration in European culture and art, specifically in the works of Man Ray and Claude Cahun, whose influence can be seen in themes and styles present in her work.
Woodman often photographed herself, nude, in empty and eerie interiors. Her photographs are not traditional self-portraits as she is usually hiding between objects and furniture or rendered as a blur in motion. Her images convey a sense of human fragility which is exaggerated by the fact that these photographs are small in scale.
Francesca suffered from depression following her move to New York in 1979 and in 1981, she tragically took her own life at the age of twenty-two. In her work, Woodman continuously explored and tested the medium of photography, challenging the idea that the camera fixes time and space, she manipulated light, movement, and photographic effects, used carefully selected props, vintage clothing, and decaying interiors to add a sense of enigma and atmosphere to her work.
Francesca Woodman’s work was incredibly influential in the 1970s and her experiments with identity and the female body paved the way for artists like Cindy Sherman and Nan Goldin.
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Francesca WoodmanProvidence, Rhode Island, 1976Gelatin silver print mounted to card5 1/8 x 5 1/8 in (13 x 13 cm)
Mount: 6 1/8 x 6 3/4 in -
Francesca WoodmanSelf-Portrait with Fur Hat, Knit Scarf, and Mary Jane Shoe, 1976-1977Six vintage contact prints, printed c. 1976-19778 x 10 in (20.3 x 25.4 cm)
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Francesca WoodmanAntella, 1977Gelatin silver print, printed c. 19777 1/16 x 9 7/16 in (18 x 24 cm)
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Francesca WoodmanFrom the Eel Series, Rome, 1977-1978Gelatin silver print, printed c. 1977-19785 3/4 x 5 3/4 in (14.6 x 14.6 cm)
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Inscribed
10 Dec 2015 - 23 Jan 2016 Gallery ExhibitionsBruce Silverstein / 20 is pleased to present Inscribed.Read more -
de-FORMATIONS
A group show featuring Andre Kertesz’s Distortions series 26 Feb - 18 Apr 2015 Gallery ExhibitionsIn 1933 André Kertész photographed two nude models in a carnival mirror as an assignment for the risqué publication Le Sourire. For a magazine often illustrated with erotic drawings, Kertész’s...Read more
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Frieze Masters
13 - 17 Oct 2021For the tenth anniversary of Frieze Masters, Bruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to present Series and Sequence , an exhibition featuring works spanning the nearly...Read more -
Paris Photo
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Frieze Masters
4 - 7 Oct 2018Featured artists: Diane Arbus, John Baldessari, Constantin Brâncuși, Bill Brandt, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Henri Cartier-Bresson, F. Holland Day, František Drtikol, William Eggleston, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Robert...Read more -
The Photography Show
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Paris Photo
9 - 12 Nov 2017Featured artists: Bill Brandt, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Constantin Brâncusi, Harry Callahan, Henri Cartier Bresson, F. Holland Day, František Drtikol, Elliot Erwitt, Eric Fischl, Mishka Henner,...Read more -
Frieze Masters
5 - 8 Oct 2017Featured artists: Brassaï, Constantin Brâncusi, Harry Callahan, F. Holland Day, František Drtikol, André Kertész, Alfred Leslie, Rene Magritte, Henry Moore, Barbara Morgan, Man Ray, Aaron...Read more -
Frieze Masters
6 - 9 Oct 2016Featured artists: Constantin Brancusi, Marie Cosindas, F. Holland Day, André Kertész, Alfred Leslie, László Moholy-Nagy, Paul Outerbridge, Irving Penn, Man Ray, Alexander Rodchenko, Aaron Siskind,...Read more -
AIPAD
14 - 16 Apr 2016At the 2016 AIPAD Photography Show, Bruce Silverstein Gallery is proud to present Triumph of the Egg , featuring works of the same title by...Read more -
Paris Photo
12 - 15 Nov 2015Artists: Ilse Bing, Werner Bischof, Erwin Blumenfeld, Constantin Brancusi, Bill Brandt, Brassai, Anne Brigman, Robert Doisneau, Walker Evans, Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, Robert Heinecken, Mishka...Read more