Helen Redman is currently circulating two exhibitions:

• AGING INTO FULL CREATIVTY

• THE BEAUTY OF OLD

Exhibitions are curated to the space and interests of the sponsoring institution, and may also be accompanied by a lecture and/or workshop by the artist.

For additional information please

Contact: redcrone@aol.com

BIRTHING THE CRONE: AGING INTO FULL CREATIVITY is a selection of work from a large body of art on aging that began in 1992 and continues today. It can be arranged in thematic sections leading the viewer through a rite of passage from menopause to elderhood. Redman investigates old age with stark, earthy, and sometimes-humorous portraits of herself and other aging women. As she visibly wrestles with how to accept the uneasy ambiguity and "mortal coil" of life itself, new forms burst into being. Human hands, the essential tool Redman relies on as an artist, are perpetually woven into the mix. Often layered over time, the art is dynamically re-conceptualized in each new context. This website is designed to echo the thematic possibilites for exhibition.

This traveling exhibit of paintings, drawings and writings by internationally exhibited artist Helen Redman has been shown at the University of San Francisco, the New York Open Center, Woman Made Gallery in Chicago, the University of California San Marcos, the University of San Diego, and the Hearst Art Gallery at St. Mary's College of California.

Birthing the Crone: Aging into Full Creativity encourages community collaboration and study, fosters interdisciplinary attention to healthcare, women's studies, sociology, psychology, gerontology and the healing arts.

THE BEAUTY OF OLD an oxymoron in today’s world, began as Helen Redman’s attempt to widen the lens through which women’s aging was viewed. As she observes, appreciates and depicts real old women, she finds mentors for creative aging.

Using conte crayon, prismacolor, and graphite on colored and painted papers, The Beauty of Old returns Redman to her beginnings in life drawing. Boldly inviting her subjects to choose colors, symbols, and even write words or poems onto their portraits, the artist fosters possibilities for collaborative creation. While each portrait stands alone as a unique character study, when mounted as an installation the viewer feels surrounded by a community of elders (average life-sized portrait is 30" x 20" interspersed with larger and smaller mixed media pieces).

The Beauty of Old breaks the chain that links youth and sexual ripeness to beauty. In a society mortified by aging, Helen Redman's portraits pulls us into conversation with a stunning, diverse and colorful array of old women.

Now an ongoing traveling exhibition, The Beauty of Old (1995-present) honors the rich complexity of mature life forms and now includes mixed media pieces from Sole to Soul, Self-Portraits and Hands galleries. The Beauty of Old can be displayed as part of a group show or a solo exhibit.

Helen Redman accompanies her exhibitions giving lectures and/or workshops when funding and institutional sponsorship are in place.

For additional information please contact Helen Redman.
Redman often displays her artwork in units of 12, 20 or 30 linear feet, as in this narrative installation "From Generation to Generation" at the JCC Gotthelf Gallery, San Diego, 2005.