Deborah Klein’s visual language is unmistakable. Across her practice, she revisits feminism and women’s histories, bringing sidelined female figures back into view with wit, intelligence and quiet provocation.

In Pirate Jenny at the Masked Ball, Klein returns to the character of Jenny from Bertolt Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera - a figure born of capitalist critique and moral unease. Here, however, Jenny is no longer confined to Brecht’s shadowy world. Recast through Klein’s imagination, she becomes both performer and observer, slipping between concealment and revelation, power and play.

There is a knowing, tongue-in-cheek quality to the work. Masks, costume and theatrical gesture become tools through which Klein questions how female identity is performed, policed and misunderstood. The work sits at the intersection of the personal and the political, drawing together literary reference, feminist inquiry and the artist’s own lived experience.

A cornerstone series in Klein’s career, the Pirate Jenny works were developed under the guidance of Euan Heng and marked a turning point in her practice. Klein is represented in major public collections including the National Gallery of Australia and the National Gallery of Victoria, and has been awarded the Grand Prize, Silk Cut Award for Linocut Printmaking.

For collectors of prints and feminist contemporary art, Pirate Jenny at the Masked Ball is a compelling early work—playful on the surface, and quietly incisive beneath.

Deborah KLEIN (1951 - )
'Pirate Jenny at the Masked Ball' 1988
linocut on paper - Printed on Nishi Nouchi paper.
Image Size: 57 x 77 cm
Dimensions: 63 x 94 cm
Signed: Editioned, titled, signed 'Deborah Klein' and dated in lower margin.

Comes with Letter of Provenance

Condition: Very Good

(c) The Artist or Assignee