Sculpture talk: David Notarius on Helen Chadwick

In November 2018, David Notaris came to Leeds Art Gallery to talk about Helen Chadwick, one of the most significant artists of her generation and the first woman to be nominated for the Turner Prize in 1987. David Notarius spoke about Chadwick’s life and work and her enduring influence on contemporary art.

Chadwick’s experiments with material were innovative and unconventional and captured a world in a state of flux.  Piss Flowers  (1991-92) , in which she cast the interior spaces left in the snow by warm urine, are as repulsive as they are beautiful, and it is this combination that typifies Chadwick’s work: aesthetic beauty created out of an alliance of unconventional, often vile, materials.

Helen Chadwick (1953-1996) was born in Croydon and lived and worked in London. She studied at Brighton Polytechnic (1973-6)and Chelsea College of Art (1976-7). Her work is included in the collections of Tate, Victoria & Albert Museum and the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

This series of talks has been programmed in partnership with Leeds Beckett University, Leeds Art Gallery and Yorkshire Sculpture International.