fig-2 38/50: Josh Wright & Guillaume Vandame: Salon Session with Francesca Steele mediated by Josh Wright & Guillaume Vandame

In the spirit of Wright & Vandame's investigation of the body, beauty, and the art-life debate, celebrated performance artist Francesca Steele has been invited for a lunchtime talk to discuss her practice and interest in the body.

For over twenty years, Steele has used her physical presence in numerous works including performance, video and photography. Between 2008 and 2012, Steele initiated a rigorous project involving the artist becoming a competitive bodybuilder. In this time, she won Miss West Britain (NABBA Trained Figure) and place in the top five at the UK Finals.

In this rare conversation with the artist, Steele will be discussing an overview of her practice from her earlier work to the present and explore some of the key issues defining her practice including extreme body modification, classical beauty and how gender and sexuality are represented and negotiated within society.