Gagosian, the world’s largest gallery, now represents the estate of enigmatic photographer Francesca Woodman, who before her death at the age of 22 helped define the style of contemporary photography through her introspective reflections drawn from Gothic, Victorian and Surrealist influences.
Gagosian will show a selection of these prints next week at Art Basel, along with an exhibition of the artist’s work next spring in New York. Woodman’s estate was previously jointly represented by Marian Goodman Gallery and Victoria Miro Gallery.
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The representation comes in partnership with the Woodman Family Foundation, which recently acquired the entirety of Woodman’s works, much of which has been closely guarded by his family and has yet to be seen in public. The collection includes all of the artist’s prints and books, as well as personal letters, journals and notebooks.
„Having acquired the full stock of Francesca Woodman’s work,” the foundation’s executive director Lisa McClure said in a statement, „the board of directors determined that fulfilling its goals required a different approach and global reach, for which the Gagosian Gallery is uniquely suited.”
Woodman, who died in 1981, began making films at a young age. Born and raised in Colorado, he was surrounded by the arts: his mother was the ceramist Betty Woodman, and his father George Woodman was a painter. Much of his work was done between 1975 and 1978 at the Rhode Island School of Design and the school’s honors program.
Like her contemporary Cindy Sherman, Woodman was often the subject of her work. Symbolism and metaphor were always present in his work, which often used decaying outlines, and reflections from glass showcases or mirrors to introduce a narrative element into his images.
He produced a book, Some irregular interior geometry, before her death. It will be published by London-based publishing house MACK this June Francesca Woodman: Artist’s BooksIt reproduces eight of his artist books, two of which have never been seen before.