Flower Face

Description

Nilbar Güres (1977, Istanbul) sees herself as a feminist and queer artist. "Flower Face" is one of the works Güres made for the São Paulo Biennale (2014). The photo was created in collaboration with local queer sex workers. Güres creates an associative image that requires some knowledge of the local culture. We see a person in a pink mini dress standing against a wall. The face disappears behind a proliferating, flower-bearing plant. A wooden snake protrudes from the vegetation. Close to the stilettos a wooden snake is also featured in the straw, and small figures that resemble litjoko figurines from the Carajá culture. The shoulder bag resembles a chuspas. The left hand appears to be holding a taser.

Nilbar Güres humorously examines cultural identity and gender identity. She questions existing social norms, including the influence of religion on the suppression of eroticism. The artist likes to work with local people and explores the different facets of their culture, history and rituals.

São Paulo has an active LGBT community and a museum dedicated to sexual diversity. The open-minded view of gender roles within indigenous cultures in South America - in the period before colonization and reform by the Catholic Church - intrigued the artist.

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