Detail from Piss Flowers
1991 – 1992.
Bronze, cellulose lacquer

Helen Chadwick described her work as “gorgeously repulsive, exquisitely fun, and dangerously beautiful”. There can be fewer more succinct or accurate descriptions of her art. The major retrospective of Chadwick’s work at the Barbican Art Gallery is a stunning collection of probably the most creative, inventive, and thoughtful work produced in Britain in the past forty years. As one of the foremost artists to have pushed out the frontiers in so many forms — photography, sculpture, and painting — in a simultaneous leap into contemporary thoughts and idioms, Chadwick is now viewed as a major forerunner of British art as we know it today. Her life and career were cut short at a tragically young age (she was just 43 when she died in 1996), but her creations, steeped in deep thought and a wild sense of humour, suffice to astound and to inspire. Her individuality, bravery, and intellectual capacity resonate in every piece in this not-to-be-missed exhibition.

©  Straight Words, 2004