Wreath to Pleasure No 1 & Wreath to Pleasure No 10

Helen Chadwick (1953 - 1996)

Southampton City Art Gallery

1994

Wreaths to Pleasure is a series of thirteen photographs of deliciously coloured flowers which have been precisely arranged, be it in clusters or individually, in combination with various fluids, from Windolene to bubble-bath. The two pieces selected by Southampton were chosen because they demonstrate the extent to which Helen Chadwick has used this approach to achieve strikingly different results. The image of tightly-bunched deep yellow and orange tulips surrounding a single cherry in a well of black oil is in sharp contrast to that of pink and white delphiniums floating in translucent hair gel. Wreaths to Pleasure make clear reference to bodily forms and fluids, and to sexuality. They are beautifully delicate, tempting yet untouchable, simultaneously delicious and bordering on the repulsive.

• Medium: Cibachrome photographs, powder-coated steell, glass, aluminium-faced MDF
• Dimensions: 110 x 110 x 5 cm
• Art Fund Grant: £2000 ( Total: £8,000)
• ArtFunded in: 1994
• Vendor: Interim Art

Provenance

Interim Art, London.

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