Girl Sitting in a Garden 1975

Editor: So, this is David Inshaw's *Girl Sitting in a Garden*. There's no date listed, but the Tate holds it. It feels strangely unsettling, like a voyeuristic snapshot. What is your take? Curator: The unsettling feeling comes, I think, from the ambiguity of the girl's situation, doesn't it? Think about the social context, the way women were viewed, and the male gaze in art, during the time this was likely made. Editor: Oh, that's a good point. The tennis net feels like a barrier, almost a screen, placing the girl within a constructed space. Curator: Precisely! Consider also the umbrella, offering only symbolic protection, highlighting the vulnerability of the subject within this constructed environment. It’s quite a statement on the politics of imagery. Editor: I hadn’t thought of it that way. Now it makes so much more sense! Curator: It makes one consider the role the artist is taking.