MoMA exhibition links feminist photography to contemporary artists
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Marianne Wex, a German photographer, documented body language in Hamburg between 1972 and 1977, collecting images of arms, legs, heads, hands, and feet to explore how patriarchal structures influence how people position themselves in public.
Her work, Let’s Take Back Our Space, became part of the Museum of Modern Art’s collection in 2018 and now serves as the foundation for the exhibition Taking Back Our Space: Photographic Perspectives. The exhibition at MoMA connects Wex’s project to seven contemporary artists.
These artists. Nona Faustine, Martine Gutierrez, Joiri Minaya, Yuki Kihara, Wendy Red Star, K8 Hardy, and Paulina Olowska, use photography to examine the relationship between bodies, space, and feminist ideas, while also considering race, colonialism, Indigenous rights, sexuality, and self-representation. Roxana Marcoci, acting chief curator of photography at MoMA, believes Wex’s work provides a framework for understanding how society shapes the body and its place in public.
Marcoci explains that the exhibition looks beyond simply recognizing the historical importance of Wex’s work. Instead, it asks how her ideas can inform current artistic practices and challenges. The exhibition will be on display at MoMA in New York from September 20, 2026, to May 2, 2027.
