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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