File:Nancy Bowen Black Heart.jpeg

Sculpture by Nancy Bowen, Black Heart (clay, copper, turmeric and mixed media, 24" x 140" x 96", 1998). The image illustrates an earlier body of work by Nancy Bowen: her abstract sculptural works from the 2010s, which drew upon feminism, contemporary art and craft strategies, and Eastern spiritualism to explore female embodiment by evoking processes and sensations rather than depict the actual body. This image represents one of her floor works, which features a gigantic heart of clay sprouting tentacle-like copper wires that spill onto a bed of turmeric powder rimmed by blood-red, leaf-like forms. This body of sculpture was publicly exhibited in prominent venues and discussed in major art journals and daily press publications.

Artist Nancy Bowen. Copyright held by the artist.

Nancy Bowen

Entire artwork

Yes. The image will not affect the commercial value of the original work or limit the copyright holder's rights or ability to distribute the original due to its low resolution and the general workings of the art market, which values the actual work of art. Because of the low resolution, illegal copies could not be made.

The image has contextual significance serving an informational and educational purpose as the primary means of illustrating a major body of work in Nancy Bowen's career beginning in the late 1980s, when she began producing largely abstract sculptures as part of a strain of feminist art based in embodiment that sought to reclaim female imagery from male-dominated conceptions of women. This work explored the fragmented, internal body as a means to express visceral and sensory experience, using a hybrid approach to form, materials, influence and techniques from both craft and contemporary art. Because the article is about an artist and her art, the omission of the image would significantly limit a reader's understanding and ability to understand this key body of work, which brought Bowen wide recognition through exhibitions in major venues, coverage by major critics and publications, and museum acquisitions. Bowen's work of this type and this series, as well as this specific work, are discussed in the article and by critics cited in the article.

There is no free equivalent of this or any other of this series by Nancy Bowen, so the image cannot be replaced by a free image.

The image use is minimal in that it conveys important information that a full artwork image at a limited fair-use size cannot due to the uniquely hyper-detailed nature of the work. By providing a close-up of the artist's style and imagery, it is significantly more informative for a viewer. It is also a further protection (along with the low resolution) against affecting commercial value.