Ghada AmerBarbie Loves Ken, Ken Loves Barbie, 1995-2002
Ghada Amer’s iconic embroidered installation 'Barbie Loves Ken, Ken Loves Barbie' (1995/2002), was included in the artist’s survey exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum in 2008. Consisting of two embroidered straightjackets made to fit the doll like proportions of a life size Barbie and Ken, each straight jacket is hand embroidered with the text 'Ken Loves Barbie, Barbie Loves Ken'. The work is an early example of Amer's installation practice and reflects on the obsessive nature of love and the impossible beauty standards that define Mattel dolls which are absorbed by young women.
Hyperallergic stated in their critique of the 2023 release of the Barbie movie the art work as one of the earliest artist critiques of the Barbie doll:
The outfits are both onesies — garments that should exist without gender, as there are no skirts, heels, or suit jackets to reference traditional women’s and men’s clothing. Still, it is obvious whose onesie is whose. Amer has transferred Barbie’s body proportions onto her costume, making the exaggerated proportions of her body even more startling - Elaine Velie, Hyperallergic, 2023
