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.
![Stehli, Flesh, 2001, c-print, edition of 3, 48 x 39 34 in,122 x 101 cm, 317341](https://marlboroughgraphics.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/gallery/images/f32c3aa5046460d096bade98e792281e2a3aa25d_thumb.jpg)
Jemima Stehli
Flesh, 2001
![](https://marlboroughgraphics.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/gallery/images/bc803aeb281192c7af34b8915ebb14e79a87197f_thumb.jpg)
Allen Jones
Dangerous Curves, 2008
![Jemima Stehli, Chair, 1997-8, black and white photograph, 149.5 x 256.3 x 4.5 cm, 50 x 88 1/4 in, ed. 3/3](https://marlboroughgraphics.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/gallery/images/da8004a0d3f13486953eff0e439d7d6e59481664_thumb.jpg)
Jemima Stehli
Chair, 1997-8
![Jones, Hatstand, 1974, Black and white silver print on baryted paper laiddown on aluminium, edition of 8, 33 x49 1-8 in, 84 x 125 cm, 317331](https://marlboroughgraphics.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/gallery/images/b693869f3138c9265f826cad7e406a0336bec8eb_thumb.jpg)
Allen Jones
Hatstand, 1974
![Newton, Sylvia in my studio, Paris, 1981, gelatin silver print, edition of 10, 18 1-2 x 18 in, 47 x 46 cm, 317350](https://marlboroughgraphics.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/gallery/images/af53d4f69c7a0011ed6678f45ba21110f65dcc0d_thumb.jpg)
Helmut Newton
Sylvia in my studio, Paris, 1981
![](https://marlboroughgraphics.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/gallery/images/b61db3212cbd013224a0162ad22c3e5b8a9d41fc_thumb.jpg)
![](https://marlboroughgraphics.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/gallery/images/d21e443d8d69ea943e9de60c5e57d043d03bde11_thumb.jpg)
![](https://marlboroughgraphics.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/gallery/images/969cf394bf14d674741e688e56fca260dfa9e3aa_thumb.jpg)