About SHOWER from Gretta Sarfaty by Nadiesda Dimambro*
Since the 1970s, Gretta Sarfaty has courageously approached themes that cross feminist agendas, without fear of using her body and her biography as sources. The artist seeks, once again, a dialogue with the intimate, which at first glance seems personal and subjective, but which expands and multiplies in the experience of the observers.
The issues around the different gazes that target the female body — its forms, representations and socio-cultural patterns of oppression — are not new for the artist. Her series "Diary of a woman", made almost 50 years ago, focused on the artist's protagonism in her self representation, proposing an active resistance to Male Gaze, which until today is imposed on art history. For decades, Gretta has developed technical and performative strategies to make her self-portraits, choosing to caricature, disguise herself, deform herself by the super approximation of the lens or by technical intention in the process of revealing the photograph in the darkroom. These strategies shuffle the perception of the observer, purposefully provoking new connections between image, senses and point of view.
In an authorial way, Gretta places herself as a subject and not a mere object, as she decides how the viewer's gaze will navigate her intimate image, and from which strategies this will take place. "Shower" brings the reinvention of those self-portrait strategies and the powerful invitation to continue questioning our view of the female body. Skin, gesture and glass are placed as layers on a blurred surface. This blurring occurs literally, but also through the implicit layers invoked: the one of the displacement of the gaze on the female body from object to subject, another one as we observe her body through time, and the layer of intimacy that brings us familiarity with the scene at the same time that depicts something extremely private.
Gretta's choices and strategies across decades are resignified and remain not only pertinent but also potent, inviting spectators to rethink their gaze on the female body, the layers of a feminine existence and its meanings.
* Private School teacher, graduated in History and Philosophy at USP. She finished her masters degree at the Aesthetics and History of Art Program of the Contemporary Art Museum from USP (MAC-USP) in 2018, with the dissertation titled "Images of Gretta Sarfaty: photography, performance and gender".
ART FAIRS
2021 SP-ARTE – SP-Arte Eventos Culturais – Central Galeria – São Paulo - SPCurated by Marta Mestre and co-curated by
0000 SP-ARTE VIEWING ROOM – Qualquer sinal que fica quando algo passa – Central Galeria – São Paulo - SP.
2020 ARTRIO – Central Galeria – Marina da Glória – Rio de Janeiro – RJ
0000ARCOMADRID – Nuno Centeno – Madrid, Spain
0000 SP-ARTE VIEWING ROOM – O que pode um corpo? - Central Galeria – SP
0000 SP-FOTO VIEWING ROOM – Línguas do presente - Central Galeria – SP
0000 ART BRUSSELS, OVR – Central Galeria – SP
2019 SP-ARTE – SP-Arte Eventos Culturais, São Paulo – SP
ART FAIRS
2021 SP-ARTE – SP-Arte Eventos Culturais – Central Galeria – São Paulo - SPCurated by Marta Mestre and co-curated by
0000 SP-ARTE VIEWING ROOM – Qualquer sinal que fica quando algo passa – Central Galeria – São Paulo - SP.
2020 ARTRIO – Central Galeria – Marina da Glória – Rio de Janeiro – RJ
0000ARCOMADRID – Nuno Centeno – Madrid, Spain
0000 SP-ARTE VIEWING ROOM – O que pode um corpo? - Central Galeria – SP
0000 SP-FOTO VIEWING ROOM – Línguas do presente - Central Galeria – SP
0000 ART BRUSSELS, OVR – Central Galeria – SP
2019 SP-ARTE – SP-Arte Eventos Culturais, São Paulo – SP
ART FAIRS
2021 SP-ARTE – SP-Arte Eventos Culturais – Central Galeria – São Paulo - SPCurated by Marta Mestre and co-curated by
0000 SP-ARTE VIEWING ROOM – Qualquer sinal que fica quando algo passa – Central Galeria – São Paulo - SP.
2020 ARTRIO – Central Galeria – Marina da Glória – Rio de Janeiro – RJ
0000ARCOMADRID – Nuno Centeno – Madrid, Spain
0000 SP-ARTE VIEWING ROOM – O que pode um corpo? - Central Galeria – SP
0000 SP-FOTO VIEWING ROOM – Línguas do presente - Central Galeria – SP
0000 ART BRUSSELS, OVR – Central Galeria – SP
2019 SP-ARTE – SP-Arte Eventos Culturais, São Paulo – SP
ART FAIRS
2021 SP-ARTE – SP-Arte Eventos Culturais – Central Galeria – São Paulo - SPCurated by Marta Mestre and co-curated by
0000 SP-ARTE VIEWING ROOM – Qualquer sinal que fica quando algo passa – Central Galeria – São Paulo - SP.
2020 ARTRIO – Central Galeria – Marina da Glória – Rio de Janeiro – RJ
0000ARCOMADRID – Nuno Centeno – Madrid, Spain
0000 SP-ARTE VIEWING ROOM – O que pode um corpo? - Central Galeria – SP
0000 SP-FOTO VIEWING ROOM – Línguas do presente - Central Galeria – SP
0000 ART BRUSSELS, OVR – Central Galeria – SP
2019 SP-ARTE – SP-Arte Eventos Culturais, São Paulo – SP
ART FAIRS
2021 SP-ARTE – SP-Arte Eventos Culturais – Central Galeria – São Paulo - SPCurated by Marta Mestre and co-curated by
0000 SP-ARTE VIEWING ROOM – Qualquer sinal que fica quando algo passa – Central Galeria – São Paulo - SP.
2020 ARTRIO – Central Galeria – Marina da Glória – Rio de Janeiro – RJ
0000ARCOMADRID – Nuno Centeno – Madrid, Spain
0000 SP-ARTE VIEWING ROOM – O que pode um corpo? - Central Galeria – SP
0000 SP-FOTO VIEWING ROOM – Línguas do presente - Central Galeria – SP
0000 ART BRUSSELS, OVR – Central Galeria – SP
2019 SP-ARTE – SP-Arte Eventos Culturais, São Paulo – SP
ART FAIRS
2021 SP-ARTE – SP-Arte Eventos Culturais – Central Galeria – São Paulo - SPCurated by Marta Mestre and co-curated by
0000 SP-ARTE VIEWING ROOM – Qualquer sinal que fica quando algo passa – Central Galeria – São Paulo - SP.
2020 ARTRIO – Central Galeria – Marina da Glória – Rio de Janeiro – RJ
0000ARCOMADRID – Nuno Centeno – Madrid, Spain
0000 SP-ARTE VIEWING ROOM – O que pode um corpo? - Central Galeria – SP
0000 SP-FOTO VIEWING ROOM – Línguas do presente - Central Galeria – SP
0000 ART BRUSSELS, OVR – Central Galeria – SP
2019 SP-ARTE – SP-Arte Eventos Culturais, São Paulo – SP
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