I was raised to be covered III
2014
Leaflet, 150 x 110cm.
Materials: oil on canvas
Collection: Collection M HKA, Antwerp / Donated by Friends of M HKA, 2016 (Inv. no. S0529).
Maryam Najd flips norms and values upside down. Does the presence of a veil disrupt the sexuality of an elegant woman's body? Shedding it does not lead to balance; the eroticism is tensed by a covering up that borders on the aggressive. It seems to be an exercise between virtue and sin. The work's title completes this sense of ambiguity − it does so with incredible subtlety.