once the muse and the object of creativity of men — she served as a model to man ray for a series of photographs entitled erotique voilée, she still had to undergo their disparagement and the shrinking of her self by their use of diminutives. max ernst had written on the invitation to the opening of the exhibition: “who covers a soup spoon with luxurious fur? little méret. who has outgrown us? little méret.”
méret oppenheim (1913-1985) drifted away from the surrealists and pursued the expression of herself and proceeded to free herself from men’s perceptions… many of the works center around the contravention of exploitative traditional female roles : from the domestic to the seductive.
“freedom isn’t given to you – you have to take it.”
méret oppenheim