Hassan Hajjaj (Morocco, B. 1961)

Classic Saida is a tight shot of a female portrait. The subject's eyes are exposed whilst remaining features are concealed under what appears to be a brown veil. The photograph is surrounded by a frame filled with containers of black mascara/kohl Hassan Hajjaj found in a souk in Morocco. Hajjaj's practice is defined by a playful interrogation of notions of representation and identity in a context of globalization. The often polarized stereotypes of the Arab world made by Western media are mirrored in this work, however offering fresher dimensions in a politically seductive style. A woman is portrayed in orthodox Islamic dress- a symbol loaded with prolific stereotypes. Yet the figure's eyes in this image appear to be powerful, mysterious and relentless. Hajjaj, an admirer of Andy Warhol's pop movement, has reinterpreted Oriental cultural icons whilst simultaneously criticizing materialism and consumption. On another dimension Hajjaj in this work challenges the notion of the gaze - demanding enquiry about to which gaze, the male, the West, or the East ? Who is it that is looking?