Untitled (in five parts: 3) (2019)

Lisa Brice is an artist who creates drawings and paintings. The focus of her work is about reclaiming ownership of the portrayal of women in art. She often paints nude women doing mundane activities to challenge the often misogynistic depiction of women in historical portraiture, largely painted by white men, for white men. Brice is interested in portraying the dynamics and differences in space and hierarchy, such as the difference between public and private or artist and muse. Brice gives agency to her subjects which can be seen through their posture and gaze. Objects such as cigarettes also disrupt the notion that the figures are to be objectified.

Cobalt blue is a signature colour of Brice’s, the other being vermilion red. In these works, cobalt creates both distance from race and a depth in form. The figures are neither gendered nor racially specific; they are feminine but not female. The colour is also inspired by Brice’s time spent in Trinidad and Tobago. The Jab Molassie (Devil Molasses) is a masked representation of the devil in the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival. The performer is smeared in blue or black dye from head to toe to mask their identity and create havoc. In Brice’s work the blue represents boundaries; the blue mask enables the figures to reclaim control over how they are perceived.

Untitled comprises a set of gouache works on paper from her series of female nudes established in 2014. The figures are captivating, both abstract and represented in an ethereal style. There is both an air of liberation and secrecy conveyed in the works. There is inhibition in the intimacy yet there is also mystery. The figures inhabit interior worlds which feel private, where they relax, slouch and smoke with a sense of assuredness.

Untitled explores feminine confidence and pleasure through mundane activities and poses, whilst challenging the authority of the gaze. In contrast to representations by Manet, Picasso or Degas, Brice’s subjects challenge traditional representations of women in the art historical canon. In recent years, The Whitworth has been acquiring works on paper that show female artists representing women. For The Whitworth, these drawings by Brice will strengthen this area of the collection, confronting historic works that display the female nude as depicted by men.

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