Zainab Fasiki’s Sexual Revolution (2019) portrays three women who are completely naked but for transparent red masks. The bright blue color of their bodies, their red masks, and their erect postures bring to mind images of superheroes in comic books, standing in formation confronting a common enemy. The sunglasses-like masks show their eyes without irises, almost like robots. Other common features such as red lips and short black hair make them appear as variations of the same body and recall some of Fasiki’s own self-portraits.
Fasiki’s illustration of women raises questions about ways of seeing and the gaze, about what is hidden and what is shown, what is normative and what is normal. Her transgression of taboos on nudity in Morocco and in the MENA region exemplifies the strategies of a new generation of Moroccan artists, authors, and activists, such as Abedellah Taïa, Leila Slimani, Fedwa Misk, and Sonia Terrab,...
