The exquisite pirate (Rauberromantik/octo/flag)

This painting forms part of The Exquisite Pirate, an ongoing project which Sally Smart began in 2004. Characterised by a complex accumulation of materials and references ranging from 1970s Feminist art, the Surrealist game of exquisite corpse and the collage and photomontage works of Dada artists such as Hannah Höch, The Exquisite Pirate project continues Smart’s career-long interest in the representation of feminine identity and centres on the female pirate as a metaphor for a range of contemporary issues including personal and social identity, cultural difference and the politics of immigration.

Text © National Gallery of Victoria, Australia