Penny Slinger born 1947, London, England. Currently residing in California.
1966 Pre diploma at West Surrey College of Art.
1969 Graduated from Chelsea College of Art, First class honors Diploma in Art and Design.
1969 While working on her thesis on Max Ernst, Penny met Sir Roland Penrose who became her patron.
1969 Penny exhibited her Surrealist work in Young and Fantastic at the Institute of Contemporary Art.
1971 Penny created her first book, 50%The Visible Woman, while at college
1971 solo exhibitions at the Angela Flowers Gallery, London.
1973 exhibition Opening, Angela Flowers Gallery, featured erotic table tops, Mouthpieces and the Bride’s Cake photo series.
1971 Art direction (with Carolee Scheeman) Four Little Girls by Picasso, Open Space Theater, London.
1971 Penny performed with the first all woman theater troupe in England called Holocaust, performing A New Communion for Freaks, Prophets and Witches at Open Space Theater and Edinburgh Festival.
1973 performed in and art directed feature film, The Other Side of the Underneath
1977 publication of An Exorcism, 1971 a collage ‘photo roman’ documenting a woman’s journey of self discovery, set in a derelict mansion house.
1978 After Penny discovered Tantra, she published Mountain Ecstasy, a set of full color erotic collage landscapes.
1977/79 Publication of The Secret Dakini Oracle divination card deck, book and charts- co-written with Nik Douglas and featuring Penny’s original artwork.
1979 Publication of Sexual Secrets, the Alchemy of Ecstasy was published with over 600 drawings, bringing teachings on sexual mysticism from Eastern cultures to a Western audience. It has been translated into many languages and sold worldwide.
1979-1994 Penny lived in the Caribbean where she created a series of artworks on the original inhabitants of the islands.
1994 Penny made the video Visions of the Arawaks, a journey into the heart of an indigenous people.
1994 Penny moved to California and built a multi media studio for photography, performing arts and video.
2009 Penny’s work was featured in Angels of Anarchy, a major exhibition of female Surrealist artists, at the Manchester Art Museum and in The Dark Monarch exhibit at the Tate Gallery.
2011 online release of the 64 Dakini Oracle online, a divinatory system depicting 64 feminine archetypes.
2012 Exorcism Revisited at Broadway 1602 Gallery, New York
2012 Hear What I Say at Riflemaker Gallery, London.
2014 Penny Slinger at Blum and Poe Gallery, Los Angeles.
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Solo Exhibitions:
2022 50% Unboxed, Pace Gallery, New York
2021 50/50, Blum and Poe, Los Angeles.
2020 An Exorcism- The Works, Broadcasts, Blum and Poe, Los Angeles.
2019 Inside Out, Fortnight Gallery, New York.
2019 Tantric Transformations, Richard Saltoun Gallery, London
2015 Self Impressions, Riflemaker London
2015 Penny Slinger, Blum and Poe Gallery, Tokyo.
2014 Penny Slinger, Blum and Poe Gallery, Los Angeles.
2012 Exorcism Revisited, Broadway 1602 Gallery, New York.
2012 Hear What I Say, Riflemaker Gallery, London.
2011 A Photo Romance, Riflemaker Gallery, London.
1993 Arawak Renaissance – The Tribute Continues, New World Gallery, Anguilla.
1992 Amerindians- Studies of a Lost People, Cotton Gin Art Gallery, Anguilla.
1982 Visions of Ecstasy, Visionary Gallery, New York
1977 Secrets, Mirandy Gallery, London.
1977 Inner Vision, Patrick Seale Gallery, London.
1973 Opening, Angela Flowers Gallery, London.
1971 Solo exhibition Angela Flowers Gallery. London.
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Group Exhibitions (partial):
2022 A Feminist Avant-Garde, Les Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles, France.
2022 Punk is Coming, MOKA Westport, USA.
2022 Black Book Presents: A Woman’s Right to Pleasure, Sotheby’s Gallery, Los Angeles
2021 Scarlet Women, Atelier Melusine, Chateau Mareuil, La Trimouille, France.
2021 Oh Marilyn, Gazelli Art House, London.
2021 The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife, Ruttkowski 68, Paris.
2020 Some of the Hole, Simian gallery, Copenhagen
2020 LESS Festival of Contemporary Collage, Viborg, Denmark.
2020 The Botanical Mind: Art, Mysticism and the Cosmic Tree, Camden Arts Center, London.
2020 Tantra: Enlightenment To Revolution, British Museum, London.
2020 The Enchanted Interior, Guildhall, London.
2020 Bodily Objects, Richard Saltoun Gallery, London.
2019 House of the Sleeping Beauties, Sothebys S/2, London.
2018 Visible Women, Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, Norwich, UK
2018 The Hired Grievers, curated by Jason Dodge, Galeria Madragoa, Lisbon, Portugal
2018 Virgina Woolf:: An Exhibition Inspired by Her Writings, Tate St Ives, Cornwall, UK
2018 The House of Fame, convened by Linder, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, UK.
2018 Worship of Sticks and Stones, Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, CA
2018 Paris Photo, Richard Saltoun Gallery, Grand Palais, Paris
2017 Sex Work, booth at Frieze Art Fair, curator Alison Gingeras, Sponsored by Blum and Poe.
2017 Dreamers Awake, White Cube Gallery, London.
2017 Women House, Monnaie de Paris, Paris, France; traveled to National Museum in the Arts, Washington D.C
2017 The Beguiling Siren is Thy Crest, The Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw
2017 Room, Sadie Coles, London, UK
2016 The One Fest, Goa, India
2016 Inaugural Exhibition, Broadway 1602, New York, NY
2016- 2017 Feminist Avant-Garde of the 1970s, works from the Verbund Collection, Photographers’ Gallery, London
2015 Photo London, Somerset House, London, Riflemaker Booth
2015 Art 15, Olympia, London
2015 History Is Now, Hayward Gallery, London.
2015 Thea Porter – 70s Bohemian Chic, Fashion & Textile Museum, London.
2015 The Feminist Avant-Garde of the 1970s , Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg
2014 Woman, Bozar Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels.
2014 Paris Photo, Paramount Studios, Los Angeles.
2014 Cry Me a River, Etoile Polaire Lodge #1, New Orleans, LA
2014 I:MAGE – Travelling with Unfamiliar Spirits, Fulgur Esoteric, London
2013 Lips Painted Red, Trondheim Kunstmuseum, Norway
2011 Threat, Broadway 1602, New York.
2009 The Dark Monarch, Tate Gallery, St Ives
2009 Angels of Anarchy, Manchester Art Museum
1993 Presentes Caraibes – 500 Years of Amerindian History, Fort Delgres, Guadaloupe.
1992 Addressing the Forbidden, Edinburgh Art Festival.
1982 Imaginary Images, Floating Foundatiopn of Photography, New York.
1982 Rated X, Neikrug Gallery, New York
1982 Erotic Art Photography, Jacques Baruch Gallery, Chicago.
1978 Surrealism and Company in this Decade, Camden Arts Centre, London.
1978 Metamorphosis, University of Cambridge, England.
1974 Nude and Naked, Nicholas Treadwell Gallery, London
1973 Exhibited in the 12th Bienal de São Paulo
1969 Young and Fantastic, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London.
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Artist’s Publications:
50% The Visible Woman, Blum and Poe, 50th anniversary edition, 2021.
The Path of the Mystic Lover—Baul Songs of Passion and Ecstasy by B. Bhattacharya with Nik Douglas and Penny Slinger: Cover and 84 original drawings by Penny, Destiny Books, 1993.
Sexual Secrets: The Alchemy of Ecstasy by Nik Douglas and Penny Slinger, including more than 600 line drawings by Ms. Slinger. 1979, Destiny Books. New anniversary edition 2000.
Mountain Ecstasy – full color collages and poetry by Penny Slinger and Nik Douglas, Dragons Dream, 1978.
Secret Dakini Oracle divination card deck by Penny Slinger and Nik Douglas, US Games and Systems 1977. Re-released as ‘ Tantric Dakini Oracle’, Inner Traditions, 2003.
An Exorcism – a book of surreal photo-collage by Penny Slinger, with introduction by Sir Roland Penrose, Villiers publications, 1977.
50% The Visible Woman, collages and poetry by Penelope Slinger, Empty Eye, 1971.
Other Publications:
The Erotic Sentiment in the Paintings of China and Japan, Nik Douglas and Penny Slinger, Inner Traditions, 1990.
Would the Buddha Wear a Walkman?, Hoper and Teresi, 1990.
The Erotic Sentiment in the Paintings of India and Nepal (with Nik Douglas), Inner Traditions,1989
Scrapbook of Anguilla’s Revolution, Ronald Webster, Seabreakers, 1987.
The Pillow Book by Nik Douglas and Penny Slinger, Destiny Books, 1981.
The Enlightened Ones in Sacred Buddhist Art by Nik Douglas, Kreitman Gallery,1980.
How Does It Feel ?, Ed Mick Csaky, Harmony Books, 1979.
Photography Year Book 1979 , ed John Saunders, Fountain Press, 1979.
Copy Art by Firpo, Alexander, Katayanagi & Ditlea, Putnam Publishing Group,1978.
The Book of Matan, ed Nik Douglas, Spearman Books, London, 1977
Photomontage, Dawn Ades, Thanes and Hudson, 1976.
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Theater and Film:
2020 Penny Slinger Out of the Shadows, director Richard Kovitch, released on BluRay by Anti-Worlds.
2019 An Exorcism: The Works, animated journey through the series by Penny Slinger and Dhiren Dasu.
2017 Penny Slinger Out of the Shadows, documentary by Richard Kovitch.
1994 Visions of the Arawaks video, Mystic Fire, New York.
1992 Sacred Sex Cynthia Connop, Triple Image Fiulms, Australia.
1974 Leading role in Vibration by Jane Arden and Jack Bond.
1973, Performed in and art direction The Other Side of the Underneath, directed by Jane Arden.
1971-73 Holocaust All Women Theater Troupe.
1971 The 4 Little Girls by Pablo Picasso, art direction and costume design.
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Awards:
1973 ‘Achievement in Art’ grant, Cassandra Foundation, Illinois.
Commissions:
1989 ‘Historical Murals’ for Anguilla Airport
1990-91 ‘On the Trail of the Arawaks‘, series of archaeological paintings for museum, Marigot, St Martin.
1993 Two series of stamps for Government of Anguilla.
2019 Out of the Shadows, Anthology Film Archives film festival, New York.
2019 Art installation for the Dior Haute Couture fashion show in Paris.
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Collections (partial):
Tate, London permanent collection.
The Penrose Collection, Farley Farm , England.
Georges Marci Monet Collection, Gstaad, Switzerland.
The Museum of Drawers, Antwerp.
Thea Porter Collection, London.
Verbund Collection, Vienna, Austria.
Collection Florence de Saint Piere, Paris.
Collection Amy Gold, New York
Collection Francis Williams, New York
Collection Thomas Koerfer
Collection Gerald and Sandra Feinberg, Boston, USA
Collection Stefan Stolitzka, Austria
Collection Anke Kempkes.
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Reviews (partial):
Arts Review, JJ Charlesworth, 2019.
The Guardian, ‘Swinging ‘60s Surrealist Penny Slinger…’, Richard Godwin. 2019,
Vogue, A Feminist Artist was behind Dior’s Wearable Doll’s House, Hettie Judah, 2019,
Spears, ‘Penny Slinger, Judy Chicago and Feminist Art Today’,Anthony Haden-Guest, November 2012
New York Times, An Exorcism Revisited 1977-2012 ‘, Holland Cotter, September 2012.
Aesthetica magazine, ‘Surrealist Explorations’, Niamh Cogland, August, 2012
Riflemaker Publication, ‘In Absence of Form’ Maxa Zoller, 2012.
The Artist, ‘An Exorcism’, Jack Yates, August 1978.
Arts Review, ‘Penny Slinger’,Nadia Woloshyn, September 1977.
Sunday Telegraph ‘Photo Synthesis,Oswell Blakeston, September 1977
Connoisseur, ‘Penny Slinger’, by Peter Fuller, October 1974.
Art and Artists,’Penny Slinger’s Life’, Sheldon Williams,November 1973
Arts Guardian, Euan Duff, July, 1973.
Spare Rib, ‘The Whole Truth’, Laura Mulvey, 1973.
Rolling Stone, Review of 50% The Visible Woman’, November 22, 1973.
Arts Guardian, ‘Young and Fantastic’, Norbert Lynton, July, 1969.