Art you will see over and over today but might not know the context for: Meret Oppenheim’s “The Nurse” or “My Nurse Maid”

In 1938, Oppenheim took a pair of white high-heeled shoes, bound them with string as if they were a trussed roast, and presented them on a silver serving platter lined with paper frills. She  transformed an everyday feminine object into something edible and objectified, shining a light on the stereotype of women as “nurturers” or servants. The bound heels are turned upwards and spread like a women’s legs. She is invoking fantasy, sex, and bondage, exposing fetishistic tendencies celebrated in Surrealism and the Dada movement, while at the same time, critiquing the male gaze.