Published to coincide with the representation of Rosa Lee and the exhibition Haptic Vision: Rosa Lee and Jo Bruton.

Hong Kong-born artist and feminist theorist Rosa Lee (1957–2009) was one of the most influential figures operating in the UK in the 1980s &90s. She created a new type of decorative abstraction within the UK that dismantled the hierarchy of fine art over craft. In doing so, she raised questions about the validity of the modernist conventions and reclaimed the position of women within the history of painting. Lee’s highly ornate, large-scale canvases are heavily layered with skeins of paints in wave-like forms, creating optical illusions. Her sources were both Western, with Bridget Riley and the writings of Jacques Derrida being hugely influential, and Asian, with calligraphic abstraction underpinning her entire practice.

This publication was designed by A Practice for Everyday Life.