Female Gaze

The male gaze––men looking at women with sexual desire––has been the basis for countless portraits since the invention of the form, yet it’s still rare to see examples in art of the female gaze turned on men. Depictions of men’s sexuality are usually the domain of gay male artists. In her portrait series, Khuzami celebrates and objectifies male beauty. During her life-long involvement in the gay nightlife scene, she encountered men at circuit parties who were confident and unapologetic about their allure. They became her muses, and her portraits of them merge palpable erotic heat with a sense of playfulness and vulnerability. Khuzami captured these men in the act of seduction, or in the act of falling in love.