| Code | DS/UK/533 |
| Person Name | Boffin; Tessa (24 Dec 1960 - 27 Oct 1993); Photographer, Curator, Editor, Lecturer, Performance Artist |
| Dates | 24 Dec 1960 - 27 Oct 1993 |
| History | Please note that this authority record currently presents basic information about this person/organisation. We are publishing it in its current state to share the information we do have and encourage further reading beyond our catalogue. We recognise the need for further enrichment about this person/organisation and aim to continue to enrich its contents. If you wish to contribute any knowledge about this person/organisation for future users of our catalogue, please share your thoughts with us at archive-enquiries@arts.ac.uk.
Tessa Boffin was a lesbian artist, her medium spanning across photography, writing, and performance. Her primary focus in her work was sex and sexual fantasy. She explored issues within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. She studied photography at the Polytechnic of Central London in the 1980s. There she was supervised by Simon Watney. From 1987-1988 she completed an MA in Critical Theory at the University of Sussex. Boffin was the first lesbian engaging in political AIDS activism in response to the AIDS crisis, as early as 1985. Her work often featured elements of surrealism and fantasy as a way to solidify lesbian identities. Further things that motivated her work include: Section 28; intersections of sexuality, class, and the body; under-representation of lesbians in photography. Significant works include: Angelic Rebels: Lesbians and Safer Sex (1989); The Knight's Move (1990); The Sailor and the Showgirl (1993). She worked as a photographer from the 1980s. |
| Activity | 24 December 1960 Born.
c1980s Studied at Polytechnic of Central London.
c1985 Began engaging in AIDS activism.
1988 Completed MA in Critical Theory at University of Sussex.
1991 Editor, Stolen Glances: Lesbians Take Photographs. |
| Relationships | Jean Fraser, Co-Editor, 'Stolen Glances', 1991 |
| Sunil Gupta, 'Ecstatic Antibodies: Resisting the AIDS Mythology', 1990 |
| Simon Watney, Tutor, c 1980s |
| Source | McCall, Olivia, 'Tessa Boffin: 1989-1993', ArtSeen, The Brooklyn Rail, June 2023, <https://brooklynrail.org/2023/06/artseen/Tessa-Boffin-19891993> [accessed 17 January 2024]. |
| Fraser, Jean, Boffin, Tessa, 'Tantalizing Glimpses of Stolen Glances: Lesbians Take Photographs', Feminist Review, 38 (1991) pp. 20-32. |