The Reassuring Hand Gestures of Big Men, Small Men, All Men was first presented in her solo exhibition at MCA (Chicago, 2021). This piece catalogues the gestures and dispositions of various men. Through a subtle exploration of body language and representation, this piece becomes an archive of physical posturing and gesture, traits of men that evoke and represent images of power. These prints explore a kind of charisma, comraderie, and patriotic fervor which we often associate with masculinity and leadership. Using news media as her main source, Abidi identifies specific body language from prominent leaders and heads of state across geographic borders, political parties, and historic eras. The resulting portraits, which are presented here as reproductions of close-up photographs of photographs, capture these virtuosic performances of power, while also indexing their unremarkable commonality.
The work consists of sixty-nine cropped photographs of the hands of various men who use the similar gestures to punctuate their speeches-a closed fist, raised index finger, and open-handed salute. All together, this becomes a corporeal study of power and patriarchy.