Her work was often misunderstood by other feminist critics of the 1970s, who saw it as narcissistic ⬇️
was born Arlene Hannah Butter in New York, 1940, the granddaughter of Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe. Demonstrating an artistic flair from a young age, at just 14 years old she posed for photographs wearing her mother’s fur stole in front of a wall featuring her name in large typography, a precursor to the self-portraiture she would create later in life. Naturally, Wilke went on to study art, enrolling at Stella Elkins Tyler School of Fine Art, Temple University in Philadelphia.
Wilke was diagnosed with lymphoma in 1987 and documented her battle to beat the disease in a highly intimate series, drawings made from her own hair as it fell out during chemotherapy. The series, which included drawings, photos and video footage, documented the invasive treatments she undertook and the effects they had on her body, and photos was published posthumously as a poignant record of Wilke’s illness.
An exhibition of Wilke’s work is now on display at Alison Jacques Gallery in London, with pieces made during a 30-year period. “Wilke’s firm legacy as a pioneering, often controversial, feminist and conceptual artist is evident not only in her early use of vaginal imagery as a feminist intervention but also in her radical choice of materials,” writes Alison Jacques.
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