New York · United States
Taking Back Our Space: MoMA's Photographic Survey on Body Politics
How a 1970s feminist archive inspires contemporary photographers to rethink spatial inequality
Reclaiming the Streets Through Lens and Gesture
Between 1972 and 1977, German photographer Marianne Wex documented everyday stances across Hamburg, cataloguing how individuals positioned their limbs, torsos, and gazes within urban environments. By cross-referencing archival materials, print media, and broadcast imagery, she compiled a seminal study examining patriarchal conditioning through physical demeanour. The Museum of Modern Art acquired this foundational research in 2018, recognising its enduring value as both a sociological record and a feminist intervention. That acquisition now serves as the conceptual anchor for a current photographic survey at the institution, bridging decades of visual activism.
Intersectional Dialogues in Contemporary Practice
Acting chief curator of photography Roxana Marcoci frames the original archive not merely as a historical artifact, but as a living methodology. The present presentation deliberately pairs Wex's systematic observations with seven contemporary practitioners who deploy the camera to interrogate spatial dynamics and embodied identity. Marcoci notes that while the earlier project revealed how societal norms dictate physical choreography outdoors, the featured creators complicate that inquiry by weaving in considerations of race, colonial history, Indigenous autonomy, queer experience, and autonomous self-portrayal. This curatorial strategy transforms a mid-twentieth-century framework into a vital instrument for modern cultural critique, demonstrating how archival research can actively shape present-day gallery programming.
Seven Visions of Embodied Resistance
Each contributing creator approaches the theme through distinct visual strategies that challenge conventional representation. Nona Faustine positions herself against architectural landmarks tied to transatlantic slavery and systemic racial trauma, using durational performance to confront viewers with unspoken histories. Martine Gutierrez collapses traditional creative hierarchies by simultaneously inhabiting roles behind and in front of the lens, questioning who controls narrative construction within commercial and fine art contexts. Joiri Minaya deconstructs stereotypical representations of Caribbean femininity, stripping away exoticised tropes that have historically reduced women to marketable commodities. Yuki Kihara centres Samoan fa'afafine subjects, redirecting ethnographic documentation toward community-led storytelling rather than external observation. Wendy Red Star repurposes institutional archives, converting rigid colonial records into dynamic sites for ancestral remembrance. Meanwhile, K8 Hardy and Paulina Olowska examine how gendered behaviours are constantly rehearsed, subverted, and rewritten through deliberate movement and sartorial choice, highlighting the fluidity of identity across different social terrains.
Enduring Frameworks for Public Discourse
Debates surrounding civic access and non-binary expression continue to dominate legislative and cultural conversations, proving that the structural inequalities identified half a century ago have evolved rather than vanished. The current presentation refuses to treat the founding archive as a static monument. Instead, it functions as an active laboratory where subsequent generations test, fracture, and rebuild theoretical models. By situating historical documentation alongside urgent contemporary investigations, the museum underscores how spatial politics remain deeply entangled with bodily autonomy. Photography here operates as both evidentiary tool and poetic medium, capturing the subtle negotiations individuals perform daily when navigating shared environments. Taking Back Our Space: Photographic Perspectives remains on view at the Museum of Modern Art in New York from 20 September until 2 May 2027.
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