Naked truths: Hannah Wilke in Copenhagen - Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center, Copenhagen, Denmark, and Helsinki City Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland

In the retrospective, much of the complexity of Wilke's art is neglected because of the lack of a wall text to summarize historical and theoretical information. A written description of her performances would have added a great deal to the public's understanding of such events. Most of her performances are accounted for, but the curators failed to clearly distinguish between the artist's performalist self-portraits (which are works of art in and of themselves) and stills excerpted from her videos. For example, Gestures (1974-76), a thirty-minute videotape, is (misleadingly) represented in the exhibition by still photographs. Ideally, the entire tape would have been included, but at the very least, there should have been a wall label explaining the origin of the images. At the same time, it was a pleasure to see the bulk of Wilke's self-portraits united visually, even if they were slighted analytically.

The final room on the first floor contained Wilke's earliest work. (Chronologically, this room should have been at the beginning of the exhibition, but the sounds of Wilke's performance pulled viewers in the opposite direction.) That last gallery held two rarely exhibited Surrealist-inspired fiberglass sculptures from the 1960s (Untitled and Anthropofaunic Form) and ink drawings like Self-Portrait on Tricycle (ca. 1956). But more interesting were the small prototypical clay sculptures that are phallic, excremental, and "box"-shaped (1960-63). Another ceramic, Teasel Cushion (1967), further evolved the abstracted vaginal form and characteristically incorporates wit via a punning title and a fabulously unruly Astroturf base.(7) The disruption of chronological sequence, along with the absence of wall texts (although a one-page biography on Wilke was available at the front desk), avoided hagiography about the artist (a norm in most retrospectives), but it also missed a crucial opportunity to inform the public about Wilke's artistic development. Instead, the art was left to speak for itself. And although the work conveys many messages, the involved artistic production only would have been enriched by additional information - especially in a country where Wilke is not a familiar artist.

The exhibition catalogue offers more insight into Wilke's work. The art historian Saundra Goldman's thorough essay is noteworthy in its tidy focus on Wilke's consistent use of life-affirming gestures. The critic and curator Laura Cottingham discusses specific works, while examining the art's impact on younger artists in the 1990s. Both essays impart innovative ideas that enhance the overall retrospective. Scandinavians and Americans alike, however, would have benefited from historical contextualization of Wilke's production - specifically in relationship to the contemporary Women's Movement in the United States. Unfortunately, the well-produced and designed catalogue is published in a limited edition, for the wonderful images alone make owning this book crucial to any art library.