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GHADA AMER
About the Artist
Ghada Amer (b. 1963, Cairo, Egypt) is an artist whose practice spans ceramics, embroidery, painting and drawing. She lives and works in New York. Having studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 1987, she went on to obtain her MFA in painting at Villa Arson in Nice in 1989. Her work features in numerous prestigious public collections, including the Art Institute Chicago; the Centre Pompidou, Paris; the Fond national d’art contemporain, Paris; the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi; the Israel Museum, Jerusalem; and the Samsung Museum, Seoul.
In France, Amer had difficulty accessing some painting classes due to her gender. She began to use art as a tool to amplify her voice, as well as the voices of other individuals marginalised by the art world. The artist’s engagement with embroidery challenges the traditional perception of the medium as being exclusively female. She explains that for her, ‘Thread is a thought, a deliberate technique that rests on an idea. It’s almost a political choice … I invented a way of painting with thread, which was my goal from the start.’[1]
By combining paint and embroidery, Amer initiates a wholly new dialogue on the hierarchy of materials, defying the way they have been gendered in art historical traditions.
The artist’s visual language explores the female body and the role of women in art, their objectification by and emancipation from the male gaze. She puts the focus on the autonomy of women’s bodies in sexually explicit renderings of the female form. Her interpretation of the female perspective is consistently both eye-opening and celebratory.
[1] Interview with Ghada Amer by Martine Antle, ‘The Call to Play’ in Ghada Amer, ed. by Maura Reilly (New York: Gregory R. Miller & Co, 2010), p.185.
Courtesy the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery
IN THE COLLECTION
Ghada Amer, "Untitled", 2000
Acrylic and embroidery on linen, 31 × 36 cm
Courtesy the artist
The women whom Amer depicts in the intimate piece Untitled (2000) are entwined with each other, bound by connecting threads. They pull themselves across the composition in erotically charged configurations. The repeated forms reinforce the role of women in dictating their own experiences. The artist also alludes to the male gaze, through sewn lines of thread pulling the viewer’s eye from the gaze of the protagonists to the sexualised parts of their bodies. Amer expertly draws attention to both the celebration of sexual freedom and the challenges women may have to overcome to experience it.
Ghada Amer, "Elizabeth's Group (Four Works)", 2010
Mixed media on paper, 51.5 x 43 cm (each)
Courtesy the artist
In Elizabeth’s Group (2010),Amer has created four unique, related scenes. These intricate compositions, reminiscent of traditional French toile de jouy embroidery, experiment with the role of colour and repetition of form. The artist’s exploration of budding relationships takes the viewer on a journey through the stages of intimacy. She harnesses the elements of storytelling and folk tales that inspire her practice, weaving her own narrative arc that traverses love from childhood and innocent love to adulthood and sexual intimacy.
Ghada Amer, "Mandy" (2013)
Acrylic, embroidery and gel medium on canvas
122 x 127 cm
Courtesy the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery
Mandy (2013) is a many-splendoured composition, enticing the viewer into a scene where a nude figure is partially hidden behind shrouds of woven colour. The background is made up of skilfully embroidered block letters that read in an infinite stream: ‘I see my body as an instrument rather than an ornament’. The transcription cements Amer’s rejection of the limitations imposed upon female self-determination and the female body. Through the subtle obscuring of figure and text, the artist makes room for subjectivity, inviting the viewer to explore their own understanding of the body.
Ghada Amer, WITCHES, "One is not born but rather becomes a woman", 2023
Embroidery on canvas
Edition of 8 plus 4 AP
36.8 x 44.5 cm
Courtesy the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery
Amer created WITCHES by reimagining words from historical female figures whose impact shaped our modern world. Through intricately embroidering these phrases onto fabric, she reimagines the notion of women’s work, demonstrating the ongoing struggle for equality.
French philosopher and writer Simone De Beauvoir's quote, "One is not born but becomes a woman", emphasises the role of societal circumstances in defining womanhood. De Beauvoir highlights how social context shapes the essence of womanhood, illustrating that biological facts adopt the values imposed by societal norms.
Ghada Amer, WITCHES, "Some leaders are born women", 2023
Embroidery on canvas
Edition of 8 plus 4 AP
36.8 x 44.5 cm
Courtesy the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery
Another work in the WITCHES series reads “Some leaders are born women”. This iconic quote originates from Geraldine Ferraro, who in 1984, became the inaugural female vice presidential candidate for a major American political party. This quote was paired with an image of a confident woman walking through the streets of New York City on a political poster for the campaign.