Helena Almeida

the long version

Painting on photographs. Female in art. Women in art. The first UK showing of the work of Portuguese artist Helena Almeida. The exhibition presents a selection of works made over the last 40 years. Almeida's work includes photography, performance and drawing. Although the artist is always in front of the camera, she says her images are not self-portraits, rather she plays a character in the works. Dressed in black, sometimes with objects or furniture found in her studio, she assumes positions that she has choreographed to create visual compositions that are as much about space and line as the relationship between the artist and the image. Sometimes she alters these compositions by painting directly onto the photographs in bold primary blue or red.