Pauline Boty, painter in the Pop Art movement, had a tragically short life, dying at just 28 in 1966. It’s the first thing I knew about it, but she was far more than the years she lost.
Now, her first posthumous solo exhibition in a decade opens at Gazelli Art House, celebrating her life and legacy. It’s an exciting opportunity to view and reappraise Boty’s work.
Often overshadowed by her male contemporaries and defined by her early demise, Pauline Boty: A Portrait aims to highlight her place as a pivotal and prominent artist in the postwar landscape.
Feminism, film, popular culture and politics all influenced Boty in creating her paintings and collages. Archival photographs and artefacts complete the picture of an artist who was both fearless and frank in her exploration of the world.
Accompanied by a talk and a brand new Gazelli publication with commentaries, Pauline Boty: A Portrait highlights the intensity and unconventionality of this artist’s work, aiming to return her to her place within the art historical canon.
In a way, it is hard to separate Boty from her times and life. Diagnosed with cancer, and pregnant, she chose not to receive treatment to save her unborn child. She married a political radical, Clive Goodwin, after a whirlwind romance.
Described as both beautiful and brainy, Boty appeared in Ken Russell’s TV documentary Pop Goes The Easel and inspired the character of Diana in John Schlesinger’s film Darling. She was the centre of a social collective which included Dylan, Tynan and Potter.
She was a powerful woman in a man’s world and her work continues to intrigue, provoke and challenge perspectives on cultural icons, arthouse cinema, and political norms.
Pauline Boty: A Portrait runs at Gazelli Art House, Dover Street, Mayfair, from 1 Dec 2023 to 24 Feb 2024. Details here.
Image credit: Gazelli Art House