Ghada Amer | QR CODES REVISITED—LONDON

Amer’s iconic embroidered wall sculptures Barbie Loves Ken, Ken Loves Barbie (1995/2002), previously exhibited as part of the artist’s survey exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum in 2008 and now for the first time in the UK, consist of two life size straitjackets bearing the phrase: “Ken aime Barbie Barbie aime Ken” [Eng. Ken loves Barbie Barbie loves Ken]. The work reflects on the obsessive nature of love and the impossible beauty standards that define Mattel dolls which are absorbed by young women. A recent article in Hyperallergic, timed to the release of Barbie (2023) in the cinemas, highlights the work as one of the earliest artist critiques of the doll:

In her 1995 work “Barbie Loves Ken, Ken Loves Barbie,” artist Ghada Amer printed two suits with the phrases that make up the installation’s title. The outfits are both onesies — garments that should exist without gender, as there are no skirts, heels, or suit jackets to reference traditional women’s and men’s clothing. Still, it is obvious whose onesie is whose. Amer has transferred Barbie’s body proportions onto her costume, making the exaggerated proportions of her body even more startling.

Ghada Amer (b. Cairo, 1963) has a wide-ranging practice spanning painting, cast sculpture, ceramics, works on paper, and garden and mixed-media installations. Amer’s work is featured in public collections around the world, including: The Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; the Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah; the Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York, NY; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR; the Guggenheim Museum, Abu Dhabi; the Israel Museum, Jerusalem; the Samsung Museum, Seoul; among others. Among invitations to prestigious group shows and biennials—such as the Whitney Biennial in 2000 and the Venice Biennales of 1999 (where she won the UNESCO Prize), 2005 and 2007—she was given a mid-career retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York in 2008 and an even wider retrospective by the MUCEM across three venues in the city of Marseille (France) in 2022-2023. 

Ghada Amer is celebrated this season with four concurrent gallery exhibitions in the UK, Europe, and North America, marking an unprecedented opportunity to experience new and historical works by the artist across continents. This follows Amer’s 2022-2023 retrospective at MUCEM, highlighting the artist’s work across painting, ceramic and sculpture and iconic garden works.