La Jaune,
1999

Ghada Amer, Egyptian, born 1963
Acrylic, embroidery, and gel medium on canvas
180 x 200 cm (71 x 78 1/2 in.)
Acquired 2001

Ghada Amer is best known for large, brightly colored canvases embroidered with repeated, often abstracted or obscured, images of undressed women-alone or with other women-borrowed directly from men's pornographic magazines. These exuberant works unabashedly affirm the artist's ability to reinterpret two notably different subjects, both of which have been associated by some with the oppression of women: housework and pornography. By rearticulating images of women in the language of "women's work," Amer asserts a basic belief that the representation of female sexuality can be empowering rather than demeaning.