Narratives of dis-ease
Photograph
1989 (made)
1989 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Jo Spence was a feminist artist and activist who explored themes of gender, class and self-identity. After Spence was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1982, she made several series of self-portraits documenting her battle with the disease until her death from leukaemia a decade later. The photographs expressed her physical and emotional state. Her doctor and collaborator Tim Sheard explained, ‘Spence is representing the honest emotions felt living in an unruly body that cannot conform to the pressures of female perfection expected and idealised in Western society’. With Rosy Martin, Spence developed a co-counselling practice they called 'phototherapy', which aims to resolve emotional issues, anxieties or past traumatic experiences through role play and photographic portraiture.
Jo Spence (1986) Putting Myself in the Picture, London: Camden Press.
Jo Spence (1986) Putting Myself in the Picture, London: Camden Press.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Narratives of dis-ease (series title) |
| Materials and techniques | Colour photograph |
| Brief description | Photograph by Jo Spence, in collaboration with Dr. Tim Sheard, 'Excise' from the series Narratives of dis-ease, C-type print, 1989 |
| Physical description | Colour photograph, woman in green shirt with head down holding toy bear. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Given by Terry Dennett and The Jo Spence Memorial Archive |
| Object history | Jo Spence made this work in collaboration with Dr. Tim Sheard, after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1982. She made a series of self-portraits documenting her battle with the disease until her death a decade later. These photographs expressed her physical and emotional state. Her doctor and collaborator Tim Sheard explained, ‘Spence is representing the honest emotions felt living in an unruly body that cannot conform to the pressures of female perfection expected and idealised in Western society.’ |
| Summary | Jo Spence was a feminist artist and activist who explored themes of gender, class and self-identity. After Spence was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1982, she made several series of self-portraits documenting her battle with the disease until her death from leukaemia a decade later. The photographs expressed her physical and emotional state. Her doctor and collaborator Tim Sheard explained, ‘Spence is representing the honest emotions felt living in an unruly body that cannot conform to the pressures of female perfection expected and idealised in Western society’. With Rosy Martin, Spence developed a co-counselling practice they called 'phototherapy', which aims to resolve emotional issues, anxieties or past traumatic experiences through role play and photographic portraiture. Jo Spence (1986) Putting Myself in the Picture, London: Camden Press. |
| Bibliographic reference | Libido Uprising: Mother/Daughter Work, a Collaboration between Jo Spence and Rosy Martin (plus David Roberte), 1987 and 1989, Tate exhibition catalogue, p9 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.393-2010 |
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| Record created | April 6, 2010 |
| Record URL |
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