Photograph, gelatin silver print on paper
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
ARTIST ROOMS
National Heritage Memorial Fund
Art Fund
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/francesca-woodman-10512" aria-label="More by Francesca Woodman" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Francesca Woodman</a>
Eel Venice Italy
ARTIST ROOMS
Acquired jointly with the National Galleries of Scotland through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund 2008
actions: postures and motions
adults
animals: fish and aquatic life
bowl
eel
emotions, concepts and ideas
female
formal qualities
lying down
named individuals
nudes
objects
people
photographic
portraits
self-portraits
vessels and containers
woman
Woodman, Francesca
<p>Just below centre of this square black and white photograph is a round white bowl containing the twisted body of an eel. The bowl sits on a speckled terrazzo floor beside the artist, who lies naked on her right side on the floor, her legs are slightly bent so that the line of her body from her knees to her left armpit roughly follows the curve of the bowl. Her left arm is extended and twisted, further framing the bowl, and terminates with her upturned hand. With her face obscured underneath her arm, only Woodman’s hair is visible above her angular shoulders. Her outstretched arm is blurred as though in movement, and, like her legs, is largely in shadow, whereas her nude back and pelvis catch the soft light that falls from outside the frame.</p>
paper print photograph gelatin silver
14 March 2009 – 8 November 2009
2009-11-08
12 March 2009 – 8 November 2009
2009-11-08
2009-03-12
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Edinburgh, UK)
http://www.nationalgalleries.org/
2009-03-14
ARTIST ROOMS Francesca Woodman
Collection based display
11 June 2011 – 23 October 2011
2011-10-23
11 June 2011 – 23 October 2011
2011-10-23
2011-06-11
Ferens Art Gallery (Hull, UK)
http://www.hullcc.gov.uk/museumcollections
2011-06-11
ARTIST ROOMS 2011: Francesca Woodman
Loan-out
5 April 2014 – 13 July 2014
2014-07-13
5 April 2014 – 13 July 2014
2014-07-13
2014-04-05
Bodelwyddan Castle (Bodelwyddan, UK)
2014-04-05
ARTIST ROOMS 2014: Francesca Woodman
Loan-out
15 November 2014 – 25 February 2015
2015-02-25
15 November 2014 – 25 February 2015
2015-02-25
2014-11-15
Oriel Davies Gallery (Newtown, UK)
2014-11-15
ARTIST ROOMS 2014: Francesca Woodman
Loan-out
18 February 2016 – 12 June 2016
2016-06-12
18 February 2016 – 12 June 2016
2016-06-12
2016-02-18
Tate Modern (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/
2016-02-18
Performing for the Camera
Exhibition
Untitled, from Eel Series, Venice, Italy
image: 219 × 218 mm
frame: 458 × 402 × 20 mm
<a href="/search?gid=999999788" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">ARTIST ROOMS</a>
Acquired jointly with the National Galleries of Scotland through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the <a href="/search?gid=999999967" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">National Heritage Memorial Fund</a> and the <a href="/search?gid=999999968" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Art Fund</a> 2008
<div class="text">
<p>Just below centre of this square black and white photograph is a round white bowl containing the twisted body of an eel. The bowl sits on a speckled terrazzo floor beside the artist, who lies naked on her right side on the floor, her legs are slightly bent so that the line of her body from her knees to her left armpit roughly follows the curve of the bowl. Her left arm is extended and twisted, further framing the bowl, and terminates with her upturned hand. With her face obscured underneath her arm, only Woodman’s hair is visible above her angular shoulders. Her outstretched arm is blurred as though in movement, and, like her legs, is largely in shadow, whereas her nude back and pelvis catch the soft light that falls from outside the frame.</p>
<p>The photograph was created during the time that Woodman spent studying abroad with the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Rome between 1977 and 1978. Woodman’s time there was formative. Her roommate and close friend Sloan Rankin wrote that she remembers carrying bags of live eels with Woodman across Rome from Piazza Vittoria in preparation for what would become Woodman’s <i>Eel Series</i>, of which this photograph is one of three (see Chandès 1998, p.35).</p>
<p>The other photographs in <i>Eel Series</i> share a similar composition to this one, but they differ primarily in the orientation of Woodman’s body. One of the other photographs shows her body in a more prone position, whereas in the other her body is on its side but very blurred. In all three of the images Woodman’s body is positioned so that, formally, her sex is ambiguous (due to her breasts, groin and, for the most part, hair not being visible). In this way her body mirrors those of the eels.</p>
<p>The curator Harm Lux has argued that the eel can be understood as a phallic symbol and is thus representative of libidinal desire (see Lux 1992, p.20). However, in this image it appears comparatively limp, still and lifeless within the bowl. In contrast, Woodman’s nude body, though prostrate, is blurred in places, which registers her freedom of movement. Lux has interpreted Woodman’s posture in the <i>Eel Series</i> photographs as one of expectancy or anticipation, yet he also points out that she is not only part of the photograph’s subject but also a participant in its set-up (see Lux 1992, p.20). Indeed, as the organiser of the entire scene, Woodman chose to direct attention to the central bowl and its contents by shaping her body around it. This composition suggests that Woodman is at once submissive to, yet also freely in control of, the stand-in for her desire as represented by the phallic eel.</p>
<p>
<b>Further reading</b>
<br/>Harm Lux, <i>Francesca Woodman: Photographic Works</i>, exhibition catalogue, Shedhalle, Zürich 1992, reproduced p.91.<br/>Hervé Chandès (ed.), <i>Francesca Woodman</i>, exhibition catalogue, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris 1998.<br/>Isabella Pedicini, <i>Francesca Woodman, The Roman years: Between Flesh and Film</i>, Rome 2012, reproduced p.71.</p>
<p>John White<br/>The University of Edinburgh<br/>November 2014</p>
<p>
<i>The University of Edinburgh is a research partner of ARTIST ROOMS.</i>
</p>
</div>

Summary
2016-03-21T00:00:00
summary
SHORT_TEXT
<p>Woodman lies naked, in a vulnerable state, the curve of her body echoing the curved form of the eel. She has printed several similar versions of this image with her body on either side of the eel. While Woodman was studying in Rome between 1977 and 1978 she came into contact with the Symbolist work of Max Klinger, whose influence can be seen in this series. The image is sexually charged, yet in placing herself on both sides of the camera Woodman hovers between being in control and being defenceless, exploring the ways in which femininity can be portrayed. The photograph is not a self-portrait in the conventional sense, as it explores the possibilities of representation, instead of revealing the artist’s identity.</p>

Online caption
2009-04-16T00:00:00
online-caption
ONLINE_CAPTION
actions: postures and motions adults animals: fish and aquatic life bowl eel emotions, concepts and ideas female formal qualities lying down named individuals nudes objects people photographic portraits self-portraits vessels and containers woman Woodman, Francesca