Jemima Stehli

In her first comprehensive solo exhibition, Jemima Stehli explored issues arising from the representation of the nude female body.

Forming a survey of recent photographic works, the exhibition showed Stehli evolving her central method of self-portraiture. At Chisenhale, this strategy was combined with references to familiar works by male artists of the twentieth century - from Helmut Newton to Francis Bacon.

Each of the ten photographs in the exhibition focused on the representation of the female body, from a female perspective. Some of the works, such as Triptych, Grey Green Painting, were made in collaboration with other women. In Self Portrait with Grace, Stehli photographed herself in the act of photographing another woman. After Helmut Newton's 'Here They Come' re-worked Newton's well-known fashion shoot to portray the artist both clothed and naked, a duality which runs through much of her work.

Stehli's work proposes that whilst the female subject is in control of her image, she is at the same time the object of the photographic gaze. By resolutely including herself in her work, Stehli makes visible the idea that the artist's identity is always present within the work of art.

Jemima Stehli