Diva Opaque, Anonymous Guardians of Intimacy

The images shown in this exhibition belong to the secret collection of Scarf_whiz80, a persona invented by Pinar&Viola, who glorifies the headscarf. His eccentric collection varies from snapshots, carefully manipulated pictures and skillful photomontages, all portraying veiled divas.

From silk to satin, from lace to chiffon, Scarf_whiz80 manifests the veil as an object obscure, shielding beauty from the beholder. All images depict strong women who seem decided to keep their transparency unique to their private relations. In contradiction with today's sensational hijab-hype, he idolizes these women as the Anonymous Guardians of Intimacy. Scarf_whiz80 refuses to take part in the overrated transparency that is being imposed by our society.

This work, which is a capsule Ecstatic Surface Collection, is a critique on societal norms of gender, race, religion and sexuality, including destructions of stereotypes and ideologies. With today's expansion of identity politics and the booming prosecution of middle-class, narrow-minded morality in the discourses of popular culture and public policy, Pinar&Viola state the veil as the neo black.

Diva Opaque was exhibited at Schrank8 Gallery, Amsterdam from March-May 2011.