In this video, Curator Laura Castagnini and Art Historian Elizabeth Eastmond describe the life and art of Alexis Hunter. Our film also features rare archive letters and interview footage of Hunter, shot before her death in 2014.
Additionally, artists Ingrid Berthon-Moine and Joy Gregory speak about how influential Hunter has been on contemporary art.
Artist Alexis Hunter was born in New Zealand and moved to London in the 1970s. A painter and photographer, Hunter used feminist theory in creating her art.
Hunter was politically active and deeply involved in the emerging British feminism scene. Working primarily with photography, the artist created images that explored feminist politics. In particular, she was interseted in concepts of inverting 'the male gaze’.
The artist used popular culture and advertising aesthetics to interrogate socio-political issues such as sexual violence and the construction of gender. Hunter often used her own hands in her images, referring to advertising techniques where a hand presents a desirable product.
The artist's early work in Conceptual Photography situated her practice as an important contribution to Britain’s feminist movement within the visual arts.
