ON BEING AN ANGEL

I can't go out because I'm too poor so instead I'm going to wallow on the sofa and post about an exhibition I finally got to this week after a month of procrastinating. Francesca Woodman is a legendary figuress in modern photography whose short-lived career is marred by her suicide aged just 22. I went to her last stint at the Victoria Miro in 2007 which was when I first encountered Woodman's work. There is something haunting and complex about her images that is near impossible to comprehend and each photo connotes a sense of mystery and intrigue. A librarian at college said something interesting to me recently -  something along the lines of; "If she hadn't killed herself so young, nobody would really care," and although I definitely don't agree with that statement, I think her status as an artist is complicated by her untimely death. If she had gone on to live and grow as an artist, would her work be as respected? Woodman presents a void of personality in her work that questions the viewer to wonder who she is and what she was thinking and part of the drama of her work today is that we will never find out. The opportunity to revisit Woodman's work in a gallery setting once again was an inspiring and disturbing experience.

+ + + Read Frances Hodgson's take on the challenges of evaluating an artist plagued by tragedy