This stark black and white photograph captures the striking image of a hand firmly gripping a handgun amidst soft, draped fabric. The high-contrast composition and sharp focus on the weapon create a powerful and unsettling visual statement. The artist seems to be exploring themes of violence, vulnerability, and the delicate balance between control and chaos. The work invites the viewer to consider the complexities and consequences of human conflict and aggression, while leaving the ultimate interpretation open-ended. ...
Alexis Hunter used photography as a means of weaponizing feminist theory, critiquing and subverting the objectification of the female body and radically reappropriating it as a site for political activism. Hunter often depicted male bodies in the same manner as sexist depictions of women in advertising and media in the 1970s, and pioneered a technique of photographic sequential narrative, using photographs and text to make radical, provocative storyboards. Through gender roleplay and the use of fetishised objects as props, Hunter disrupted normative, entrenched dynamics of power and challenged the exploitation of gender stereotypes aimed at generating profit, a symptom of consumer capitalism. As well as displaying a legacy of radical feminism and its evolutions, viewing Hunter’s work today shows the artist’s anger, bravery and innovation in the face of a misogynistic society. ...
