Sarah Lucas’s provocative and often humorous works challenge antipathies and assumptions towards the female body in mainstream culture and art. These self portraits were taken throughout the 1990s, and reflect shifting perspectives and perceptions of female identity. Portrayed as a characteristically androgynous figure, the artist assumes a number of roles, from sexually provocative in Eating a Banana, 1990, to outward belligerence displayed in Fighting Fire with Fire, 1996, and vulnerability in a later work, Human Toilet Revisited, 1998. Lucas offers a Baudelarian portrait of the artist, whose presence and appearance is an expression of her time. However, presented as a portfolio of works, Lucas also invites an archival reading, investing the subject with universal significance.
Sarah Lucas
Self Portraits, 1990-1999
Sarah Lucas, Got a Salmon On #3, 1997, iris prints on paper
Sarah Lucas, Divine, 1991, iris prints on paper
Sarah Lucas, Eating a Banana, 1990, iris prints on paper
Sarah Lucas, Fighting Fire with Fire, 1996, iris prints on paper
Sarah Lucas, Human Toilet II, 1996, iris prints on paper
Sarah Lucas, Human Toilet Revisited, 1998, iris prints on paper
Sarah Lucas, Self Portrait with Fried Eggs, 1996, iris prints on paper
Sarah Lucas, Self Portrait with Knickers, 1994, iris prints on paper
Sarah Lucas, Self Portrait with Mug of Tea, 1993, iris prints on paper
Sarah Lucas, Self Portrait with Skull, 1997, iris prints on paper
Sarah Lucas, Smoking, 1998, iris prints on paper
Sarah Lucas, Summer, 1998, iris prints on paper