Hannah Richards

She Wins Who Calls

‘Tart cards are the means by which prostitutes advertise their services’ (Archer, 2004, p.1)

The tart card originated in the 1960s and the cards were placed in locations such as newsagent’s windows, telephone boxes or handed out and dropped in the street. Illustrated tart cards from the 1980s and 1990s have come to be regarded as examples of sub-cultural accidental art.

Within this body of work, through self-portraits I am adopting the style and presentation of old the fashioned tart card as a way in which to subvert the gaze and cause a collision between the seduction performed and rejection of the gaze. The tart card was a way in which sex workers would advertise their services, however they never specifically stated that they were selling sex on the cards, it was all about assumptions and expectations. Within my practice I challenge those expectations with my hand printed tart cards and record the response of how many phone calls I receive after leaving my tart cards in public places.