In the Venus Series 2014–2016, Reinhardt posed with commercial aids that simulate femininity – prosthetic breasts, face masks and rich wigs – the products intended mainly for transvestites, transsexuals and drag queens. Inconsistent with my maybe normative understanding of such clothing practices, it is obvious in these photographs that the person wearing these clothing accessories is a woman, (although it is not clear whether this is the artist herself). Through the process of filming, Reinhardt moves these products – mainly intended for men who would like to look like women – aside, and reveals how she wants to be seen and how this can awaken and strengthen her desire. Taking on the role of characters such as a pole dancer, she appears either naked or with barely covered large silicone breasts and then, in an extremely surprising setting, spreads her legs to expose a prosthetic penis – or in her words “the best of both worlds”. The Venus Series is not so much a critique of the way in which gender is constructed and reproduced, but it is a matter of complicated ways in which our desire (auto)directs itself and finds the form of its expression.
From the text by Marianne Mulvey, catalogue of the 56^th October Salon

© Cultural Centre of Belgrade, October Salon Collection and the artist
Gift Contract: III-5-15/23.01.2018.
Inventory No. 109
Photo: Courtesy of the artist