Ghada Amer - Untitled (The Garden of Eden of Reza)

Ghada Amer

Untitled (The Garden of Eden of Reza)
2000

Acrylic, embroidery and gel medium on canvas. 152 x 183 cm. Signed and dated 'Ghada Amer 00' on canvas overlap. - Minor traces of age.

"[… ] my artistic work is about women; not French women or Arab women, but all women, because it is a universal cause and struggle.” (Ghada Amer)
https://ghadaamer.com/interview/interview-with-ghada-amer/ (Last accessed on April 7, 2026.)

“A staunch supporter of women’s self-determination, Amer has tirelessly challenged moralistic attitudes that seek to suppress bodily autonomy since the early 1980s. The artist sees taboos against abortion and pornography – or the religious veil – as cut from the same cloth. These prohibitions suggest that women are not free to control their own bodies. Her resulting oeuvre has continuously championed that fundamental right. Early in her career, Amer began melding embroidery with painting to unite fine art and a craft associated with female makers. In the early 1990s, she incorporated stitched and drawn imagery of women from pornographic magazines and Disney cartoons into these mixed-media creations. Simultaneously, Amer created installations with text, fabric, and other materials that confronted stereotypes about sexism and terrorism. Since the 2010s, Amer has added sculpture to her growing list of mediums. And, most recently, she has made portrait-style paintings in thread and acrylic, layering illustrations of women’s faces with quotes and slogans about women’s empowerment (or men’s fears about their growing power.)”
https://www.artbasel.com/stories/ghada-amer?lang=en (Last accessed on April 7, 2026.)

Provenance

Annina Nosei Gallery, New York (label verso); Sotheby's, New York, 13.5.2010, lot 376; private collection, Switzerland