On 2 August, Foam brings together the shared theme of two exhibitions in Gender Bender, an event to mark the occasion of Pride Amsterdam.

ATTENTION: this event is sold out
Drawing on Structures of Identity - Photography from the Walther Collection and the exhibition Y&rsquo;all better Quiet Down by JeanPaul Paula &amp; Florian Joahn, Gender Bender explores the visual idiom regarding gender identities, with reference to the portraits concurrently on display in the museum. Also, the role that the concept of gender plays in contemporary society will be addressed. The programme features the following speakers: PROGRAMME AND SPEAKERS:
<ul>
<li>Foam curator Kim Knoppers will discuss the visual idiom regarding gender and identities in the exhibition Structures of Identity, in relationship to contemporary mass media. How are norms endorsed and criticised? How can photographic representations reinforce, undermine or unsettle social stereotypes?</li>
<li>Artist duo JeanPaul Paula and Florian Joahn will give an Artist Talk that sheds more light on how the images in the exhibition were created.</li>
<li>Independent scholar Tjalling Vald&eacute;s Olmos will offer an analysis of the (audio-) visual art by Reina Gossett/ Tourmaline (a young queer and transactivist), and the specific political role that she plays in contemporary society where the lives, stories and histories of queers and trans-individuals of colour often go unseen and/or remain unheard.</li>
</ul>
<a href="/book-a-visit/public/gender-bender/02-08-2018">&gt; Sign up now</a>
ABOUT THE EXHIBITIONS <a href="/museum/programme/structures-of-identity">Structures of Identity - Photography from The Walther Collection</a> examines how photographers from different periods and cultures used the power of the portrait to either confirm or critically examine stereotypical ideas on status, race, nationality and gender. Part of the exhibition explicitly explores gender identity and shows how photography can contribute to expanding gender identities and to questioning sexual conventions. It demonstrates how photography can help to make representations of gender and sexuality more fluid.
<a href="/museum/programme/structures-of-identity">&gt; Learn more</a> The exhibition <a href="/museum/programme/jeanpaul-paula-florian-joahn">Y&rsquo;all Better Quiet Down</a> is entirely devoted to gender identity. For this exhibition, Paula and Joahn portrayed (among others) various individuals from the LGBTQ community of S&atilde;o Paulo, whom they styled and then photographed. Each of the models represents their identity in a unique and powerful way, against the background of a country that celebrates the world&rsquo;s largest Pride festival, but also where the largest number of LGHBTQ individuals is violently killed every year. Besides the portraits of the people in Brazil, the artist duo also made portraits inspired by key figures from the worldwide Pride movement.
<a href="/museum/programme/jeanpaul-paula-florian-joahn">&gt; Learn more</a>
Foam is supported by the BankGiro Loterij, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, Gemeente Amsterdam, Olympus and the VandenEnde Foundation.

<div class="sidebar__content">EVENT INFO 
Thursday 2 August 2018 6.30pm - 9pm doors open at 6pm &gt;&gt; FULL &lt;&lt; PRICE &euro;7,00* regular rate &euro;5,00&nbsp;<a href="/about/memberships" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Foam Fan</a>/<a href="/about/memberships" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Club</a>/<a href="/about/foam-fund" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fund</a> 
LANGUAGE English *excluding&nbsp;<a href="/museum/visitor-information">museum admission</a></div>

Gender Bender

Ricardo Nagaoka presents a series of intimate portraits that addresses the prevailing societal ideas on what makes a man a man. Born in Paraguay to Japanese parents, Ricardo found himself stuck between the macho culture of Latin America and the strict patriarchal norms of his family.  

The photographs, all black and white, vary in crop and position: sometimes up close, cutting off certain body parts and revealing others, whilst others zoom out and show the portrayed head to toe. All images carry a quiet, timeless atmosphere, yet they express a distinct softness. Together, they call for a more inclusive understanding of gender, away from masculine stereotypes—largely based on Ricardo Nagaoka’s own experiences and desires. 

Nagaoka’s projects are not only about breaking down the ruling ideas on masculinity, but more so about building up what this term can include in the future.  

Kitchen, 2022

Aprétame (Justin), 2022

Wrestlers (Self), 2022

Daniel, 2022

Touching (Self), 2022

Brit II, 2023

El Mundo (Rose), 2023

Breaking (John & Timme), 2021

Ivan, 2022

John, 2022

Ricardo Nagaoka

Credo, from the series MADRE

challenges the binary opposition between the ‘good girl’ and the ‘bad girl’ deeply rooted in the Catholic traditions within Bolivian society. Closely collaborating with the sitters of her portraits, Marisol Mendez counters the simplified, sinner-versus-saint, vision on femininity. 

‘Madre’ in this case signifies much more than just a mother figure. It connects to the complex and multi-layered female goddesses traditionally worshipped in indigenous cultures and points to the rich, complex and varied experiences of 

Mendez deliberately uses the alternative spelling to, also linguistically, rid herself from limiting definitions of femininity. 

The portraits play with traditional symbolism associated with the stereotypical female: fragile, devout and proper stand next to rebellious and sexual. By doing so, the photographs show the contradiction experienced by many womxn between rebelling against and adopting these expected gender roles. 

Llorona, from the series Madre

Durazno, from the series Madre

Killa, from the series Madre

El marido sin cabeza, from the series MADRE

Huevo, from the series Madre

Our Lady of Plaster, from the series Madre

Pliegues, from the series Madre

Efigie, from the series Madre

Dolorosa, from the series Madre

Pared, from the series Madre

Estampita, from the series Madre

Quinceañera, from the series Madre

Virgen Andina, from the series MADRE

Soft, from the series Madre

Dual, from the series Madre

Marisol Mendez

Page 144-145 in Foam Magazine #64: EXTREMES.

Page 138-139 in Foam Magazine #64: EXTREMES

Page 142-143 in Foam Magazine #64: EXTREMES

Presenting Foam Magazine #64: EXTREMES—The Environmental Issue

Time to change perspective.

Foam Magazine #64 Extremes - The Environmental Issue Cover: Abundance, 2023

On Transience – The Ebb & The Flow

Created by Ilona Szwarc in 2015. The artwork is an inkjet print on Hahnemuhle gloss baryta warmtone inkjet paper and displayed at 90 x 115 cm.

Untitled from the series Bible, 2008-2014

Foam is supported by the VriendenLoterij, Foam Members, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, the VandenEnde Foundation and the City of Amsterdam.

In 2021 Foam receives additional support from the Mondriaan Fund and Kickstart Cultuurfonds

visible in

How well do you know yourself and do you express your identity? Inspired by the make-up tutorials from the theatre world, Ilona Szwarc models her own face on the back of another person’s head, who is also her lookalike. As a result, this photograph hovers halfway between a portrait and a self-portrait, and it remains unclear exactly who is who. Ilona Szwarc likes to play with the idea of identity and how we present ourselves to the outside world, but also with how women tend to be depicted and how gender is a social construct. She stresses how much we are often strangers to ourselves. The result is an absurdist image that may call to mind some scene from a scary movie.  

Untitled #21, 2015 from the series I am a woman and I cast no shadow, 2015

Untitled #21 from the series I am a woman and I cast no shadow

Created by Momo Okabe in 2008-2014. The artwork is an inkjet print on semi-glossy paper, matt quality, and displayed at 25.4 x 20.3 cm.

 describes the various romantic relationships of photographer Momo Okabe over a period of seven years. Among others, the series tracks the gender confirmation surgery of her lover Yoko, who had her uterus and breasts removed in Thailand. The title of the series refers to an object that is easy to buy and to use, but also represents something that some transgenders may feel they can never truly possess. This portrait in a domestic setting provides an intimate glimpse into Okabe’s private life. The surroundings are bathed in a warm, pinkish glow that characterizes the entire series. Bringing to mind historic images from old photo albums, this colour tone evokes a sense of nostalgia. By documenting her personal story in her work, Okabe manages to evoke universal feelings about sex, transsexuality and love. 

Untitled, 2008-2014 from the series Dildo, 2008-2014

Untitled from the series Dildo 2

 describes the various romantic relationships of photographer Momo Okabe over a period of seven years. Among other things, the series tracks the gender confirmation surgery of her lover Yoko, who had her uterus and breasts removed in Thailand. The intimate portraits that Okabe creates reflect the challenges and vulnerabilities that transgender people must cope with, in the face of the often discriminatory and conservative views that exist in Japanese culture. In terms of form and lighting, this portrait appears to be a spur-of-the-moment shot, but at the same time it shows a strong, determined person. By documenting her personal story in her work, Okabe manages to evoke universal feelings about sex, transsexuality and love. 

Untitled from the series Dildo 1

 between 2008 - 2014. Using inkjet print on semi-glossy paper as the medium, the artwork is displayed at 190 x 150 cm.

more from the series

 expresses the complexity of the lives of her friends and lovers struggling with issues of gender identity, several of whom have already undergone gender reassignment surgery. Okabe juxtaposes images of underground Tokyo nightlife and the emotional quakes of her and her friends with the destruction wrought by the heavy earthquake and the subsequent tsunami in 2011. Both Okabe’s loved ones and their surroundings are connected in their struggle to overcome the long and difficult struggle out of their traumatic past, in order to (re)construct an identity for themselves.

Untitled from the series Bible 3

Untitled from the series Bible 2

Untitled from the series Bible 1

For more information and visual material, login to access the press kit of this exhibition.




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, Cansu Yıldıran studies the power dynamics and gender inequality that they encountered in their ancestral village in Northern Turkey. Inspired by the personal stories of the women of their family, Cansu creates emotional atmospheres that investigate their own sense of identity, of belonging and the continuous search for a safe space.

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Oğulcan Arslan 

From the series All the Rivers Flow In the Nuthouse

               

Alp Peker

Untitled

From the series Amel Defteri: a notebook of deeds

From the series Amel defteri: A Notebook of Deeds

             

Kıvılcım S. Güngörün 

From the series I lab yu

From the series I Lab Yu

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Cansu Yıldıran 

From the series The Dispossessed

      

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For more information and visual material please contact the Press Office of Foam via pressoffice@foam.org.

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As a diverse group of artists, each of them presents their own visual language. Through their works, they critically look at the world around us. They use the photographic medium to question collective affairs and ongoing issues happening in the world. At the same time, they explore how these issues have an impact on a personal level, moving between a local, historical, symbolic, emotional and bodily perspective. 

This group of artists uses a wide range of photographic genres to tell their stories. With portraiture and documentary photography, digital created images and archival material, the talents create a space for the viewer to sit with situations and current events, to reflect and respond to.   

Complementing the physical experience at Foam, this digital exhibition offers a deeper look at the Talents and their works. What goes on behind the surface? What is the inspiration? What techniques are used? This exhibition combines artistic context with educational perspectives. Read, see, and hear more about the themes and topics and explore, engage, and interact with the works! 

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Untitled from the series Dildo

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Untitled from the series Bible

Untitled from the series Bible

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