Approach to Fear: XVII: Masculinisation of Society - exorcise
- Artist: Alexis Hunter
- Date: 1977
- Medium: 10 photographs, c-prints on paper, mounted on board
- Dimensions: support, each: 250 × 202 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
"This is 'Approach to Fear: XVII: Masculinisation of Society – exorcise' by Alexis Hunter, created in 1977. The piece consists of ten c‑print photographs mounted on two horizontal panels, each 250 × 202 mm. You’ll see a sequence that moves from top left to bottom right: a hand—ringed, nails painted red—casts a shadow over the muscular torso of a naked man and then smears black paint across his image. The head is cropped so only the lower half shows, and the feet are out of frame; the paint starts at the genital area and progressively covers more of the body.
Hunter uses this visual narrative to stage an exorcism against the mass‑media worship of virile form. The work was part of her 1976–7 ‘Approach to Fear’ series, each with a different subtitle. Hunter drew on advertising imagery—hands that appear in commercial ads—to explore feminist politics and the construction of gender.
She was originally from New Zealand, moved to London in 1972, and worked actively within the feminist scene, using photo‑narratives to make the viewer feel implicated. The painting invites you to imagine yourself as the hand performing the act.”
See it in person
Approach to Fear: XVII: Masculinisation of Society - exorcise is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
