What it Means to Be a Woman Artist
Caroline Marciniak, frieze
October 2018
Controversial and wholly original, Hannah Wilke sought a formal language for women’s creativity, challenging the parameters of both art and feminism in the process. The fifth exhibition of her work at Alison Jacques Gallery, organized in partnership with the Hannah Wilke Collection and Archive in Los Angeles, brings together 26 pieces from the early 1960s through to 1987. The exhibition opens with Gestures (Triptych) (1974–76), comprising stills from the titular video. In a close-up frame, Wilke uses her hands to manipulate her face: she pulls her mouth downwards, stretches it into a smile, pushes her brows together. […]