Gang of Kesh Part 2

* Nearly 20,000 images of artworks the museum believes to be in the public domain are available to download on this site. Other images may be protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. By using any of these images you agree to LACMA's Terms of Use.

Gang of Kesh Part 2

Series: ’Kesh Angels
Edition: 1/7
Morocco, 2000
Photographs
Chromogenic print with wood frame and car-paint tins
Image: 44 × 30 in. (111.8 × 76.2 cm) Frame: 51 1/8 × 37 in. (129.8 × 94 cm)
Gift of the artist (M.2014.176)
Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

Inspired by the "henna girls" of Marrakesh, Gang of Kesh (from the series Kesh Angels) features subjects

...

Inspired by the "henna girls" of Marrakesh, Gang of Kesh (from the series Kesh Angels) features subjects dressed in an alternate reality of haute couture. They wear the traditional djellaba, head scarf, and veil, but the garments are made entirely of modern fabrics with bold prints such as bright polka dots, camouflage designs, or leopard spots. The young women are shown with their motorbikes, seemingly playing against Western stereotypes of hijab attire and especially the veil as an instrument of disempowerment. These "biker chicks" are clearly in full command of the powerful vehicles they ride.

Hassan Hajjaj was born in Larache, a small harbor town in northern Morocco. He moved to London as a teenager, and now divides his time between that city and Marrakesh. Best known as a photographer, Hajjaj depicts a globalized society where the margins of cultural identity—whether African, Arab, or European—are continuously shifting and blurred. Here, as in many of his photographs, Hajjaj creates frames incorporating Coke or Fanta cans or various other packaged goods often labelled in Arabic.

More...

Bibliography