Helen Chadwick at The Hepworth Wakefield

Named by some art correspondents as one of the best art shows to visit in 2025 the “Helen Chadwick: Life Pleasures” exhibition has just opened at The Hepworth Wakefield gallery. At last, Helen Chadwick’s prolific artistic output is getting a viewing for the first time in decades. Her artwork has seldom been shown in one place since her sudden death in 1996 at the age of 42. This is a rare opportunity for you to admire her work for yourself.

On entering the exhibition, the first thing you see, and smell, is a large circular tub of bubbling liquid chocolate

On entering the exhibition, the first thing you see, and smell, is a large circular tub of bubbling liquid chocolate, its sweet aroma pervades the room. On the walls surrounding the tub are circular brightly coloured photos of orchids, gerberas, sweet peas and chrysanthemums which echo the shape of the pool of chocolate. The five senses - smell, sight, taste, touch and hearing – are a common denominator in all of Helen Chadwick’s works. By using her art to stimulate the senses she wanted to trigger various emotions in the observer such as excitement, desire, tenderness and even repulsion. Flowers fascinated her and she incorporated them whenever she could.

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Helen Chadwick was born in 1953 in Croydon, England to parents who met in Athens during the second world war; her mother was Greek and her father British. After leaving Croydon High School she enrolled for an Art Foundation course at Croydon College, then went on to study for a BA in Fine Art at Brighton Polytechnic (as Brighton University was known then). For her final degree show ‘Domestic Sanitation’ in 1976, she began to demonstrate her originality and unconventional way of composing works of art. In ‘Domestic Sanitation’ we view at The Hepworth in a digitized version, four women in transparent latex costumes scrubbing and cleaning a room which is an attempt to show the distinction between nudity and nakedness while carry out stereotypical female activities.

A year later, in 1977, for her final MA show at Chelsea College of Art she produced ‘In the Kitchen’. Here a series of kitchen appliances constructed from metal frames and PVC were worn by her collaborators rendering them immobile in these replicas of a fridge, oven and washing machine - her metaphor for women being trapped in domesticity. This consistent theme of feminism appeared in the majority of her works subsequently. It was expressed in humour and utilized a surprising array of unconventional materials.

From 1977 onwards Chadwick created and regularly exhibited her works of art, gradually building up a reputation as a talented artist. By experimenting with many different materials in original and surprising ways, innovative originality was the hallmark of her oeuvre. Her reputation came to prominence with ‘Of Mutability’ (1986), a large installation of sculpture and photography, which toured extensively at various art galleries and earned her a prestigious nomination for the Turner Prize in 1987, the first year women were allowed to enter the competition.  

Another installation named ‘Carcass’ appeared in that same year and is conceptually brilliant. It is a two metre high rectangular tower made of clear Perspex into which food waste was poured at regular intervals. The effect surprised her. The food composted and the initial coloured layers at the top (orange carrots, red tomatoes, green cabbage) slowly decomposed by the action of bacteria into a spectrum of colours to eventually dark brown compost at the bottom of the tower. The composting process produced bubbles of gas which slowly percolated through the detritus to the surface, thereby creating a dynamic sculpture and a visual metaphor for life. The replica in this exhibition creates an aroma one perceives as soon as you enter the room! Provoking the sense of smell.

Besides being a great artist Helen Chadwick was an accomplished teacher of art

When critically accused by other feminists of just reinforcing the stereotypical opinions about women with her emphasis on nudity, she refuted this claim, but nevertheless still changed tack and avoided female nudity in her following works of art. One of these, ‘Piss Flowers’ (1991-1992), on display at The Hepworth, is possibly one her most famous pieces of work. This was created by her and her partner, David Notarius, urinating into a mold of snow in the shape of a flower, thereby making indentations which were then cast in liquid plaster which when solidified were cast in bronze and enameled in white.  The result is quite extraordinary – pedestals in the shape of a flower with erect penile shapes (formed from her urinating in one spot in the snow) rising from their centres, a snapshot of a moment in time and the implication is an ambiguous role reversal of gender.

Besides being a great artist Helen Chadwick was an accomplished teacher of art and lectured at various renowned art institutions. She taught at the Royal College of Art, Goldsmiths College, Chelsea College of Art and Central Saint Martins where some of today’s best contemporary British artists such as Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas, Anya Gallaccio and Damien Hurst attended and were clearly influenced by her, as observed in their own work.  

Her influence on British art as both artist and teacher was profound

Today gender binaries are blurred and Laura Smith, the curator of this exhibition, is showing that Helen Chadwick was ahead of her time in anticipating society’s attitude towards gender because she recognised the fluidity of sexuality and gender and sought to represent this in her work.

In addition, Chadwick tried to alter the perception of beauty and what is traditional and in doing so broke many boundaries. She possessed the ability to apply herself to a broad spectrum of artistic techniques and in her lifetime created many sculptures, installations, photos, performance art, and prints. Her influence on British art as both artist and teacher was profound and her premature death was a tragic loss for the art world.

Although often named as a great influencer on modern art, Helen Chadwick seems to have been forgotten, if not written out of art history. This revival will hopefully correct that situation. You will be pleased to discover at The Hepworth Wakefield the amazingly creative output from this artist once revered in her own time for her unconventional originality.

“Helen Chadwick: Life Pleasures” runs until the 27th of October this year at The Hepworth Wakefield.