Taking Back Our Space: Photographic Perspectives” at MoMA

In 1972, West German artist Marianne Wex began a visual survey of body language and gender, secretly photographing people in her hometown of Hamburg to observe how men and women were socialized to occupy space differently. Wex also re-photographed images from advertisements, newspapers, magazines, films, television, and art catalogs, pasting them onto panels organized by categories such as “standing arms,” “sitting legs,” “lying down,” and “poses of possession” — for her, these mostly unconscious gestures were an essential part of our communication. MoMA presents a robust selection of this pioneering feminist project, placing it in dialogue with contemporary artists such as Nona Faustine, Martine Gutierrez, K8 Hardy, Yuki Kihara, Joiri Minaya, Paulina Olowska, and Wendy Red Star, who re-evaluate the relationship between body and public space from 21st-century Black, queer, and feminist perspectives. In this context, the idea of “taking back space” takes on multiple meanings — reclaiming physical territory, historical narratives, and the ability to self-represent.