The relationship between performativity and the gaze has always been central to Jemima Stehli’s artistic practice. Her photographic works of the late 1990s and early 2000s often cite well-known imagery by established male artists such as Francis Bacon, Allen Jones and Helmut Newton, which she re-stages with her own body.

At the time, Stehli was criticized for allegedly participating in her own objectification. From today’s perspective, her works must be understood as a complex statement between homage and critique, challenging notions of gender, power, and complicity in the representation of the female nude. The self-exposure of her own body, the role of narcissism and even seduction proves an interesting vessel for Stehli’s critical commentary. 

Her hybrid position as the subject/object of the work reminds us that Stehli is staging situations and performing images, rather than merely depicting them.