Flipping the binary doesn’t solve all the problems of the
objectification of women in art, but it does provide an entertaining
start. I use humor to inspire viewers to consider that passive
representations of women for the heteronormative male gaze are
neither natural nor universal. In response to the abundance of
dehumanizing imagery I am expected to appreciate for art’s sake,
I invented the brodalisque. These oil paintings feature masculine
men who recreate the poses and passivity of historical odalisques.
Western orientalist painters typically portrayed odalisques within
the harem, a place where unrelated men were not allowed. To
update the trope of creating a “realistic” painting in a prohibited
space, I place my subjects within the hidden mysteries of what is
known as the man cave. I render these forbidden environments
representationally to persuade the viewers that these
compositions are factual and not at all fictitious. If the original
odalisque paintings that I reference really truly are about form
and aesthetics, not sex and ownership, then these paintings are
completely serious and not remotely silly.