Ghada Amer's embroidered and painted canvases, which deal with issues of empowerment and representation, confront traditional ideals of womanhood and assert her belief in women's rights. Embroidery is traditionally a women's craft and her work links traditional women's work with contemporary desires for self-expression and power. In Les Flaneuses, the serial images - including the iconic image Snow White - speak to the representation of women, while the myriad horizontal black threads make it difficult to see the images clearly. The word flaneuses refers to a French term coined by Baudelaire - le flaneur: a man who walks the city to observe and participate in the urban experience. The term is associated with an understanding of modern society in relationship to the individual, a theme Amer is also exploring in her work.
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