Exhibitions

Helen Chadwick (1953-1996) was one of the most significant British artists to have emerged in the 1980s. Since her untimely death at the age of 42 there has been little re-evaluation of her work, but Chadwick was the focus of this exhibition, which included previously unseen material.

Chadwick was a fastidious archivist and kept all the material she used in the research and production of her work throughout her career. This extensive collection was donated recently by the Helen Chadwick Estate and the Zelda Cheatle Gallery to the Henry Moore Institute, and offers a unique opportunity to study the artist’s working methods. To highlight this generous gift, material accumulated during the preparation and production of one of Chadwick’s key early works, Ego Geometria Sum, was displayed at the Institute.

The title of the display, ‘My Personal Museum’, was an epithet Chadwick used for Ego Geometria Sum (1982-4), an autobiographical work in which she charted her growth from premature birth up to the age of 30 by means of geometric sculptures and photographs. The material reveals the twists and turns of Chadwick’s imagination as well as latent meanings, which she never exposed or publicised.

Helen Chadwick was born in Croydon, Surrey and trained at Brighton Polytechnic and Chelsea College of Art. As well as lecturing in Fine Art, latterly at the Royal College of Art, she exhibited internationally and in 1987 was one of the first women to be short-listed for the Turner Prize.