Mary Wollstonecraft

Stewy

Screenprint

2015

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  • About the work
    Location
    Country: Switzerland
    City: Berne
    Place: British Embassy
    A stencil-cut print by British graffiti artist Stewy, this portrait depicts Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797). A pioneering activist for human rights who inspired Suffragettes of later generations, Wollstonecraft published A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792. Responding to Thomas Paine’s The Rights of Man (1791), she argued for the equality between the sexes; and for women’s representation in Parliament. Her book captured the spirit of an age defined by the French Revolution and the rise of radicalism. Advocating girls’ education, in 1784 she established a school in Newington Green, London, renting a house at which debates were held with Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine and John and Abigail Adams (second US President and First Lady) invitees of Dr Richard Price, the local Minister of the Unitarian Church. Wollstonecraft’s literary legacy continued after her death: in 1818, her daughter, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (later Mary Shelley), published her Gothic novel, Frankenstein.

    Local to Newington Green, Stewy knew of Wollstonecraft’s connection to the area. Having previously made stencil and laser-cut images of historical and contemporary figures for sites in London, Manchester and Brighton, he researched the historical style of dress and hairstyle for this portrait. Two print editions were produced: 25 on white and 25 on red. He donated the red set to the Unitarian Church and the white to Mary on the Green, a local group fundraising towards the production of a Wollstonecraft statue. In 2015, Stewy produced a third edition printed on green, half of which he donated to the People’s History Museum, Manchester.
  • About the artist
    Working under his tag name Stewy, the anonymous street artist started making designs in 2007. His early works were hand cut: he later switched to making predominantly laser-cuts. When selecting subjects, he takes care to contextually link an image to a location – what he calls ‘psychogeography’. Each one takes a week to cut and minutes to spray. Examples include punk poet John Cooper Clarke, Quentin Crisp and Frank Sidebottom in Manchester; Malcolm Maclaren in London; Tracey Emin in Margate; David Hockney in Bradford; and Sylvia Plath in Hebden Bridge. Stewy cites the influence of Blek le Rat, a Paris-based street artist whose work pre-dates that of Banksy. Stewy also teaches in schools, using graffiti to help encourage children to engage with subjects across the curriculum.
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  • Details
    Artist
    Stewy
    Title
    Mary Wollstonecraft
    Edition
    15/28
    Date
    2015
    Medium
    Screenprint
    Dimensions
    height: 70 cm, width: 50 cm
    Acquisition
    Presented by Mary on the Green Campaign, October 2016
    Inscription
    below image, br: stewy 15/28 IV 2015
    Provenance
    Mary on the Green Campaign, 2016 (gift)
    GAC number
    18701