Hannah Starkey at The Hepworth Wakefield

The Hepworth Wakefield will present the first major survey of British photographer Hannah Starkey, tracing the development of her work across two decades.

Throughout her career Starkey’s meticulously choreographed photographs have determinedly engaged with how women are represented in contemporary culture, an issue which is now, finally centre stage.

Starkey reveals women in moments of private reflection, alienation or social interaction that might otherwise go unseen: a woman fleetingly fascinated by another woman’s reflection, or the attentive gaze of a mother carrying her child. Meanwhile, the large scale of her images suggest the recording of a monumental event. On display will be photographs from Starkey’s graduation show in 1997 that immediately brought her widespread acclaim, through to newer works of the Women’s March in London in 2017 alongside an as yet unseen newly commissioned body of work created with young women in Wakefield.

Exhibition made possible by the Freelands Foundation through the 2019 Freelands Award. The Hepworth Wakefield is the fourth recipient of the annual £100,000 Freelands Award, established in 2016 to enable a regional arts organisation to present a large-scale exhibition by a mid-career female artist, including the creation of a major new body of work.