Photograph by Sophy Rickett, 'Vauxhall Bridge' from the series 'Pissing Women', bromide print, 1995.

Sophy Rickett studied photography at the London College of Printing before obtaining an MA in Photography from the Royal College of Art. Her work contemplates the tension between the narrative tendencies and abstract possibilities of photography, working almost exclusively at night to explore and exploit the drama and ambiguity of darkness.

Representing one of Rickett’s earliest bodies of work, the Pissing Women series features bold and politically charged images of female empowerment. They depict the artist, in a range of guises, parodying masculinity by performing the act of urinating in the street. Rickett purposefully choses significant London locations for her rebellious act, such as Vauxhall Bridge, with the MI-5 headquarters seen clearly in the background. By selecting sites which represent the corporate establishment of the 1990s economic boom, and in committing her performance so publicly, Rickett’s further challenges the notion of patriarchy and male dominated spaces.

Given anonymously

E.453-2017