Gender Studies: Bettina Rheims

GENDER STUDIES BY BETTINA RHEIMS

Kael T. B. 1, Paris June 2011

http://www.welt.de/regionales/duesseldorf/article106235012/Das-dritte-Geschlecht-mal-Mann-mal-Frau.html 

 Edward V.111 paris , June 2011

http://blog.zeit.de/zeitmagazin/2012/04/20/bettina-rheims-im-nrw-forum/

I visited Hamilton’s a private gallery in central London, I was overwhelmed with a series of B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L portraits.  I had no idea what the exhibition was called or who the artist was.  The faces were perfect and visually attractive on the eye, but their bodies showed a darker side of the portraits, the body in the process of pain and transformation.

Bettina Rheims started her career as a model, journalist and gallery owner; in 1978 she became a photographer. She was born in France in 1952 and became a Photographer in 1978 and embarked upon photographic projects, which brings her closer to herself.  She says 'Being an artist means trying to figure out who you are through your work, drawing closer to what you are and what you don’t want to be-and closer to what you don’t want to go through.' (Rheims, B. 2103)   

Rhiems career has been exhibited worldwide in the public and private collections.  She has worked in the commercial world with leading brands like Chanel and Lancôme and also celebrities like Claudia schiffer and Kylie Minogue.

The Gender Studies project is about transsexuals, men and women changing physically, men to women, women to men and a third gender of dual identity.   The portraits are visually stunning in the facial area.  The prints are chromogenic prints mounted on an aluminium, very professional and it has a three dimensional feel, as if the image is coming out at you.

Overall this exhibition was an eye opener into the world of transsexuals, man or women or other, does it matter.  The answer to the question is controversial debate, however it moved me the beauty in the face, but the pain in the scars on the body made me feel uneasy and emotional.  The face portrays peace and happiness, but the body reveals torment and sadness, like beauty and the beast in one single image.

References

Carey, P. (2013) 'Bettina Rheims Gender Studies 'Review of Bettina Rheims by Paul Carey, Potomonitor. [Online] Available at: http://www.photomonitor.co.uk/2013/02/bettina-rheims-gender-studies/ (Accessed 07/03/13)

Limited, Art (2013) Bettina Rhiems Gender Studies. [Online] Available at: http://www.artlimited.net/news/en/7581980 (Accessed 07/03/13)

Hamilitons (2013) Gender Studies by Bettina Rheims. [leaflet obtained in Hamiltons art Gallery], 1 March 2013.


http://mylens1.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/gender-studies-bettina-rheims.html