Hisaji Hara, A Study of ‘Therese’, 2009 and Balthus, Therese, 1938 The provocative paintings of the French-Polish artist Balthus are the starting point for Japanese photographer Hisaji Hara’s visually arresting photographs currently on display at the Michael Hoppen Gallery. Like in Balthus’ work, the photographs are deeply voyeuristic, sexually suggestive, and fetishistic. As their titles…
Catherine Opie, Katy, 1996 Catherine Opie’s photographs of the lesbian, gay and transgender community, recently on display at the Stephen Friedman Gallery, are meant to challenge the viewer: at the very least they put into question stereotypes about gender, identity and sexuality. Yet inasmuch as the comparably small black and white prints from the ‘Girlfriend’…
Laurel Nakadate, Oops!, 2000 The noughties are commonly described as a decade in which celebrity culture proliferated, a decade which saw a massive increase in the commodification of sexualized imagery, also the decade of voyeurism via TV shows such as Big Brother. The American video artist and photographer Laurel Nakadate, born in 1975 and raised…