Heather's Dégradé
Ghada Amer
Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art
In textiles, dégradé refers to the diminution of a fabric’s color when a dye fades from dark to light. In Heather’s Dégradé, Ghada Amer depicts women who seem to be in a state of dégradé, the outlines of their bodies, in explicit poses often culled from pornography, almost dissolving into overlapping forms that appear at a distance as an abstraction. Her choice of words is also a play on women’s “degradation” by the act of sex—traditionally thought to downgrade the social value of women—here depicted with pleasure and sensuousness. Amer’s choice of thread as a medium is a nod to the devaluation of sewing as “women’s work,” as well as to the modern perception that “craft,” as the production of those who labor for a living, has less intrinsic value than “fine” art.
MEDIUM
Embroidery and gel medium on canvas
DATES
2006
DIMENSIONS
78 x 62 x 1 1/2 in. (198.1 x 157.5 x 3.8 cm)
(show scale)
SIGNATURE
Signed in pencil on lower left edge of canvas: "Ghada Amer 06"
ACCESSION NUMBER
2013.50.1
CREDIT LINE
Frank L. Babbott Fund, Mary Smith Dorward Fund, William K. Jacobs, Jr. Fund, and Florence B. and Carl L. Selden Fund
PROVENANCE
Prior to 2008, provenance not yet documented; by 2008, acquired by the Arthur M. Sackler Collections Trust; 2013, purchased at Christie's, New York, NY by the Brooklyn Museum.
Provenance FAQ
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Ghada Amer (American, born Egypt, 1963). Heather's Dégradé, 2006. Embroidery and gel medium on canvas, 78 x 62 x 1 1/2 in. (198.1 x 157.5 x 3.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, Mary Smith Dorward Fund, William K. Jacobs, Jr. Fund, and Florence B. and Carl L. Selden Fund, 2013.50.1. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2013.50.1_PS9.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 2013.50.1_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2013
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
© Ghada Amer
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Why did Ghada Amer intentionally use pornographic/erotic women in this work?
By using erotic images of women, Amer is questioning the rules imposed on women concerning their bodies and sexuality.
She is both critiquing female objectification while also celebrating female pleasure.
Tell me more!
Ghada Amer is best known for her erotic embroideries meant to question the rules imposed on women as well as questioning the line between "art" and "craft."
The figures she chooses to reproduce in thread are the ones she finds the most sexy and powerful. She typically sources them from magazines.
![[Untitled] (Cyclone)](https://d1lfxha3ugu3d4.cloudfront.net/images/opencollection/objects/size2_sq/2006.30.6_PS9.jpg)
