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The Harem: Essentialized Sensuality

The Work of Lalla Essaydi

The Harem: Essentialized Sensuality

The harem has long been a focus of artistic depiction, particularly in 19th-century paintings of voluptuous European and Middle Eastern women in stages of undress against backdrops of lush arabesque designs. In this series, artist Lalla Essaydi strives to disrupt the stereotypes and revert to the authentic idea of the harem as a space designated as strictly for women and without overt sexual connotations. Essaydi’s images are also visually opulent, but they create spaces where women reclaim their autonomy, reject objectification and return the viewer’s gaze.

Essaydi was raised in Morocco and now lives in the United States. Her art, which often combines Islamic calligraphy with representations of the female body, addresses the complex reality of Arab female identity from the perspective of personal experience. She has worked in media including painting, video, film, installation and analog photography.  



Admission is free. The Kwan Fong Gallery, located in Soiland Humanities Center, is open to the public 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Parking is available in the lots on Mountclef Boulevard and Olsen Road.

Image: Harem #2, chromogenic print mounted to aluminum with UV laminate, 30 x 40 inches, 2009. Courtesy of Edwynn Houk Gallery. 

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Kwan Fong Gallery of Art and Culture

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