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Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male' Body Language as a Result of Patriarchal Structures

Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male' Body Language as a Result of Patriarchal Structures

Marianne Wex
German, 1937–2020
1977
A photographic installation of 242 gelatin silver prints, paper, and ink in which Marianne Wex assembles and contrasts images of ‘female’ and ‘male’ body language to argue that posture and gesture are shaped by patriarchal social codes.
You encounter long, horizontal boards covered in dense rows of small black-and-white photographs—like a visual catalogue—so that repeated poses read as patterns or grammar rather than isolated moments.
By using an archival, montage-based method to map everyday postures, Wex made visible how visual culture enforces gendered behavior and helped pioneer feminist photographic analysis and body-politics in art and scholarship.
Medium
Two hundred and forty two gelatin silver prints, paper and ink on museum board
Dimensions
Dimensions variable
Classification
Department
Credit
Committee on Photography Fund, and The Modern Women's Fund
Accession
1116.2018.1-213
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
View on moma.org ↗

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Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male' Body Language as a Result of Patriarchal Structures 94%

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Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'... 94% Marianne Wex 1977 Gelatin silver prints, paper and ink ... Photograph Photography 19 7/8 × 38 3/4" (50.5 × 98... German 1116.2018.57
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Marianne Wex

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Marianne Wex

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Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male' Body Language as a Result of Patriarchal Structures 93%

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Marianne Wex

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Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'... 93% Marianne Wex 1977 Gelatin silver prints, paper and ink ... Photograph Photography 50.1 × 70.8 cm German 1116.2018.113
Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male' Body Language as a Result of Patriarchal Structures 93%

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'...

Marianne Wex

1977

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'... 93% Marianne Wex 1977 Gelatin silver prints, paper and ink ... Photograph Photography 50.3 × 140.8 cm German 1116.2018.149
Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male' Body Language as a Result of Patriarchal Structures 93%

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'...

Marianne Wex

1977

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'... 93% Marianne Wex 1977 Gelatin silver prints, paper and ink ... Photograph Photography 19 5/8 × 59" (49.8 × 149.8 cm) German 1116.2018.179
Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male' Body Language as a Result of Patriarchal Structures 93%

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'...

Marianne Wex

1977

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'... 93% Marianne Wex 1977 Gelatin silver prints, paper and ink ... Photograph Photography 50.1 × 141.7 cm German 1116.2018.85
Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male' Body Language as a Result of Patriarchal Structures 93%

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'...

Marianne Wex

1977

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'... 93% Marianne Wex 1977 Gelatin silver prints, paper and ink ... Photograph Photography 50.1 × 35.6 cm German 1116.2018.58
Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male' Body Language as a Result of Patriarchal Structures 93%

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'...

Marianne Wex

1977

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'... 93% Marianne Wex 1977 Gelatin silver prints, paper and ink ... Photograph Photography 19 3/4 × 35 1/16" (50.1 × 8... German 1116.2018.192
Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male' Body Language as a Result of Patriarchal Structures 93%

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'...

Marianne Wex

1977

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'... 93% Marianne Wex 1977 Gelatin silver prints, paper and ink ... Photograph Photography 19 7/8 × 29 13/16" (50.5 × ... German 1116.2018.73
Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male' Body Language as a Result of Patriarchal Structures 93%

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'...

Marianne Wex

1977

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'... 93% Marianne Wex 1977 Gelatin silver prints, paper and ink ... Photograph Photography 19 11/16 × 18 7/8" (50 × 47... German 1116.2018.206
Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male' Body Language as a Result of Patriarchal Structures 93%

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'...

Marianne Wex

1977

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'... 93% Marianne Wex 1977 Gelatin silver prints, paper and ink ... Photograph Photography 19 3/4 × 32 13/16" (50.1 × ... German 1116.2018.131
Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male' Body Language as a Result of Patriarchal Structures 93%

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'...

Marianne Wex

1977

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'... 93% Marianne Wex 1977 Gelatin silver prints, paper and ink ... Photograph Photography 50 × 126.3 cm German 1116.2018.87
Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male' Body Language as a Result of Patriarchal Structures 93%

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'...

Marianne Wex

1977

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'... 93% Marianne Wex 1977 Gelatin silver prints, paper and ink ... Photograph Photography 19 3/4 × 58 1/4" (50.1 × 14... German 1116.2018.37
Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male' Body Language as a Result of Patriarchal Structures 93%

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'...

Marianne Wex

1977

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'... 93% Marianne Wex 1977 Gelatin silver prints, paper and ink ... Photograph Photography 50 × 96.5 cm German 1116.2018.36
Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male' Body Language as a Result of Patriarchal Structures 93%

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'...

Marianne Wex

1977

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'... 93% Marianne Wex 1977 Gelatin silver prints, paper and ink ... Photograph Photography 50 × 47.3 cm German 1116.2018.177
Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male' Body Language as a Result of Patriarchal Structures 93%

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'...

Marianne Wex

1977

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'... 93% Marianne Wex 1977 Gelatin silver prints, paper and ink ... Photograph Photography 19 5/8 × 55 15/16" (49.9 × ... German 1116.2018.197
Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male' Body Language as a Result of Patriarchal Structures 93%

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'...

Marianne Wex

1977

Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male'... 93% Marianne Wex 1977 Gelatin silver prints, paper and ink ... Photograph Photography 50.1 × 25.7 cm German 1116.2018.89