Helen Chadwick (Life Pleasures)

Helen Chadwick (1953–1996) embraced the sensuous aspects of the natural world, breaking taboos of the "traditional" or "beautiful." Her sculpture, performance, and photography is radical, provocative, and often steeped in humor, and employs unusual, sometimes grotesque materials—bodily fluids, meat, flowers, chocolate, and compost among them. She quickly became a leading figure among Britain’s postwar avant-garde, becoming one of the first women to be nominated for the Turner Prize. A dedicated teacher, she mentored the majority of the Young British Artists. She was also involved in the artistic community at Beck Road, Hackney, whose residents included Maureen Paley, Richard Deacon, and Genesis P-Orridge.

Although Chadwick’s work was widely exhibited during her lifetime, attention to it declined following her unexpected death in 1996, and itis only relatively recently that its significance has been acknowledged afresh. Coinciding with a major touring retrospective, this publication spans the breadth of her practice, from her renowned MA degree show In the Kitchen (1977) through to her seminal Piss Flowers (1991–2). Merging art and life, with a focus on Chadwick’s interdisciplinary interests and engagement with education, music, and politics, as well as an in-depth study of her art and ideas, the book is a fitting tribute to her vital impact on social and cultural history.