Odalisques

Series of black and white painted-over photographs on paper, various dimensions, 2023 – ongoing

Odalisques is a project around the concepts of Orientalism, Odalisques and the Grand Tour, inspired by the Western tradition of Orientalism, as it appears in literature and fine arts mainly in the 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century. VASKOS’s approach has a double meaning. Their gaze has the ambiguous character of queer aesthetics: they love and deconstruct at the same time, they parody something and at the same time celebrate it, degrade it and exalt it! Through queer strategies and methodologies, VASKOS assume the hybridity of identity and the complexity of cultural heritage.

With their project Odaliques, VASKOS refer to the exoticization of the “other”, the objectification through the Western gaze of the Oriental subject. They react to the gaze of the Western white male painter who depicts the Oriental woman – real or imaginary -, as an object of desire and lust, – whether it is Ingres and his odalisques, Gauguin with his young women in Tahiti, or Matisse and his own imaginary exoticism. With a playful and critical approach, VASKOS play both parts of the equation, both the artist and the model (the odalisque) with a mood to demonstrate / highlight / critique the gender stereotypes and cultural clichés that govern the European tradition of painting.