In her short career Francesca Woodman (1958–1981) produced an extraordinary body of work acclaimed for its singularity of style and range of innovative techniques. From the beginning, her focus was on the relationship with her body as both the object of the gaze and the acting subject behind the camera. This presentation features works completed by the artist in Providence, Rhode Island during which time Woodman was a student at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Polka Dots, Providence, Rhode Island, 1975–1978, which belongs to a series of works which were all shot in the same interior space with Woodman wearing the same polka dot dress, reveals the photographic strategies pursued by Woodman from the very beginning, along with her process and an exploration of identity and subjectivity, performativity, seriality and repetition. In such works, the  body of the artist is often absorbed by the plaster on the walls or wallpaper, hiding behind furniture and objects, playing with its own shadow, hanging from doors and windows. Often nude apart from variety of props covering her body, the artist is frequently positioned in empty or sparsely furnished environments, characterised by rough surfaces, cracked mirrors and old furniture.

Born in 1958 in Denver, Colorado, Francesca Woodman lived and worked in New York and Italy until her death in 1981. Since 1986, Woodman’s work has been exhibited widely and has been the subject of extensive critical study in the United States and Europe. Significant solo presentations include Francesca Woodman: Portrait of a Reputation, MCA Denver, Colorado, USA (2019–2020); On Being An Angel, Fundación Canal, Madrid, Spain (2019); Life in Motion: Egon Schiele/Francesca Woodman, Tate Liverpool, UK (2018); Francesca Woodman, Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco (2011–2012), touring to Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2012).