Catherine Elwes
In 1979 Elwes made perhaps the first UK performances utilising menstruation blood, titled Menstruation I and Menstruation II, both performed at the Slade School of Art. She was also part of the collective Women’s (Free) Arts Alliance, which offered a women only space for artists, and included performances and other exhibitions, including by the artist Kate Walker. She has focused on filmmaking and the moving image since the ’80s.
Catherine Elwes
Performance documentation / Examples of works
Menstruation I, 1979, Slade School of Art, London
Menstruation II, 1979, Slade School of Art, London
Female Into Male, 1978 with Annie Wright, Womens’ Art Alliance, London
Publications
BATTISTA, Kathy (2013) Re-negotiating the Body: Feminist Art in 1970s London, London: I. B. Tauris
Study Room Ref: P2121
ELWES, Catherine (2004) ‘On Performance and Performativity: Women Artists and Their Critics’, Third Text, Vol 18, Issue 2, March, pp 193-197
Study Room Ref: A0202
ELWES, Catherine (2000) Video Loupe, London: KT Press
Website
Catherine Elwes, Menstruation 1, (1979), Slade School of Art, London. Photo by John Muellbauer, Jean Matthee, Mandy Havers or Iain Robertson. Copyright Catherine Elwes
Catherine Elwes, Female to Male – Female Into Male, (1978) with Annie Wright, Womens’ Arts Alliance, London. Photo Andre Van Niekerk.
