Description
Artist: Helen Beard
Title: Syntribate
Medium: 10 layer separation silkscreen print on 410gsm Somerset Satin paper
Size: Paper size: Image size 12 1/2" x10" ; l sheet size: 15" x 11 7/8"
Inscription: Signed and numbered on front lower margin
Edition: X/60
Year: 2019
Condition: Very good condition overall, please request condition report for full details
Documentation: Includes Gallery Certificate of Authenticity
Helen Beard is best known for her large scale color-field oil paintings depicting sexual imagery in a closely cropped format. With provocative art, she celebrates sex from a woman’s perspective. Her use of bold colors and alluring approach captures the various aspects of female sexuality and highlights intimate moments through the eyes of a woman.
Using condensed polychromatic shapes and indistinguishable forms, Beard combines abstraction and realism. She juxtaposes her subject matter with vibrant hues to create a strong visual impact. Her bold yet simple imagery balances the erotic tones created by the visual rhythms and sensual movement within her composition. Additionally, the visible brush strokes add to the raw intimacy present in her work.
Syntribate illustrates a female nude while focusing on her lower half. The slang term syntribate refers to a type of masturbation exclusively done by females by crossing their legs and rubbing their thighs together. With the female figure as the active protagonist of the silkscreen, Beard celebrates a solo female erotic fantasy. Furthermore, she explores gender, eroticism, and sexual psychology with a provocative scene of female self-pleasure.
Syntribate includes a gallery certificate of authenticity. The work is signed and numbered on the front lower margin. It is important to note that this work was the first print edition created by the artist. Furthermore, the artwork is in very good condition overall. Please request a condition report for full details.
Helen Beard:
Multidisciplinary artist Helen Beard is best known for her large scale color-field oil paintings depicting sexual imagery in a closely cropped format. Her paintings, collages, needlepoint, sculpture, and installations draw directly from pornographic and other found materials. Her artworks highlight sexual themes in a broad context, more specifically, she explores gender, eroticism, and sexual psychology with provocative scenes from a woman’s viewpoint.
Beard was born in Birmingham, England in 1971. She studied Art and Design at Bournemouth and Poole College in 1992. For 15 years Beard worked as a freelance wardrobe stylist and assistant art director for the film industry. She garnered the attention of artist and collector Damien Hirst and exhibited in the 2017 group show Simulation Skin: Selected Works from the Murderme Collection. Today, her art is part of major collections worldwide.
Beard uses a bold and raw approach for depicting female sexuality. With bright colors, Beard creates a complete contrast between the scenes she illustrates and vibrant hues present. Using condensed polychromatic shapes and forms that can often be indistinguishable, Beard combines abstraction and realism. The visible brush strokes to her work add to the overall erotic feel by creating visual rhythms and sensual movement. Her artistry offers a balance of strong impact imagery and simple composition and structure.
Through her paintings, installations, and needlework, Beard creates a constant dialogue about sexual desires from a female perspective. Unapologetic in her illustration of female sexual liberation, the artist invites the viewer to engage with the image. Her feminist approach to female sexual desire and need removes the male gaze through a reductive representation. A representation that challenges the notions of women being passive and devoid of desire in sex.
With provocative art, she presents female empowerment by celebrating sex from a female perspective. By making the female figure the active protagonist of her art, Beard celebrates female erotic fantasy. Her paintings are a new approach towards the representation of gender, one which highlights intimacy through the eyes of a woman.