Harem #1 2009

Lalla Essaydi created "Harem #1," to disrupt the Western fantasy of the harem. The image's surface is a complex layering of patterns. You've got these cool, muted blues and browns, and the eye bounces across the mosaic tilework and carved wood. I can imagine Essaydi setting up her shot, considering the light, the placement of the figure, the geometry of the space. Maybe she was thinking about Ingres’s orientalist paintings, or the power dynamics inherent in the gaze. I keep thinking about the figure in the center. She's reclining, but she's also self-possessed. Essaydi is interested in playing with these kinds of contradictions, showing how women in these spaces are not just objects, but active participants in their own stories. Essaydi joins a conversation between painters like Matisse, who were fascinated by the visual richness of North Africa, and contemporary artists who are grappling with questions of identity and representation. It is all about taking ownership of one's narrative, and challenging stereotypes through a kind of painterly intervention.