Ghada Amer – Artist

If I could own just one piece of art it would be something by Ghada Amer.

She is one of those fabulous people who has lived in several countries; Egypt, France, The States. One of the reasons I am drawn to her work is I find it fascinating that as an Egyptian woman she creates works that are both sexual and provocative. I have spent an unusual amount of time in Egypt as I was married to an Egyptian man. Most of the Egyptian women I know, even those who are “ex-pats”, don’t readily broach the topic of sexuality, and certainly do not do so via public artworks.

I find her pictures to be haunting, and sometimes hard to decipher. Like a woman who is “hard to get”, sometimes you must stare at her works for a while before you see the underlying images rise to the surface. She uses thread and paint on canvas which greatly appeals to me; I love the mixed medium and her works are often colorful. I checked out her show at Cheim and Reid in the spring…. I wish it was still up, like a favorite book I would revisit it.