Arts Council Collection Curator, Ann Jones explores Kate Davis’ Who is a Woman now? I, 2008, one of the works featured in our touring exhibition, On Paper, which has been shown at venues across the UK throughout 2018, and continues until spring 2019.
Kate Davis works across a range of media, specifically drawing, collage and sculpture. The subjects in her artworks often reference the human body, and emerge disjointed and distorted. She frequently responds to the aesthetic and political ambiguities of historical artworks and their reception.
Who is a Woman now? I is a delicate pencil drawing of what seems to be a crumpled postcard, folded in half like a body bent from the waist and flanked with a dense black background. The reproduction bears resemblance to a Willem de Kooning painting from his seminal Woman series (1951-53), and the address of the Modern Museum of Modern Art, New York, features along the edge. De Kooning’s representations of women were perceived by some to be menacing and objectifying, with their snarling expressions painted with wild brushstrokes, leading to accusations of misogyny. Davis’s depiction of the ruined image suggests protest from her standpoint as a female artist working today.
Who is a Woman now? I, 2008 will be showing in On Paper at Tŷ Pawb, Wrexham from 28 July - 22 September 2018 before moving on to Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea from 29 September - 25 November 2018.
It is one of the three drawings in the exhibition that are of paper, on paper. The other works are Books from the Museum of the White Horse Library, Non-Fiction by Tania Kovats and National Film Theatre, 2000 by Derek Boshier.
On Paper is an Arts Council Collection touring exhibition. After Swansea it will tour to Bath and Honiton until April 2019.