Sunday, October 1, 2017

Anna Brown reviews Martha Wilson

Martha Wilson was born in 1947 in Newtown, Pennsylvania. Martha, who has lived in New York since 1974, has also worked and exhibited widely both nationally and internationally since 1974. Currently she is a part of the Fall 2017 International Artist in Residency program at Artpace.

This pioneering feminist artist is known for her self-portrait style works, which incorporate performance, photography, and even video. Her early body of work includes documentary photographs accompanied by text, which serve as guides to further understanding the imagery. This can be observed in her 1974 piece My Authentic Self, and even more so in her more contemporary efforts such as The Legs Are the Last To Go. Martha is a master of subtle humors and bringing to light topics which are otherwise viewed as uncomfortable, unpopular, or controversial. She seamlessly fuses her simple compositions with a concise statement or descriptive passage, which acts as a sort of documentation of each concept she sheds light on. 

I have had the unique opportunity of speaking to this artist about her work both past and present. While her photography and performance based work arguably paved the way for later contemporary artists such as Cindy Sherman (see Captivating a Man, 1972), Martha relayed to me that her current body of work is about her age and her feelings about the topic. Martha’s photographs speak to me because they are so honest and casually hilarious, and they are without a doubt an accurate reflection of the shameless, authentic woman she is. If you get the chance, I highly recommend seeing her exhibition this coming November at Artpace.

http://www.marthawilson.com






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