"Little Deaths" is the latest installment within the narrative of "Canon in Drag," an ongoing project that envisions an alternative Western art canon extending beyond patriarchal influence. This exhibition comprises a series of paintings that skillfully adopt the stylistic elements of iconic artworks while introducing a gender-reversed perspective and altered narratives.

Alluding to the euphemism for orgasm, "Little Deaths" explores the conditions of pleasure from psychological, physical, and cultural perspectives. Drawing inspiration from the rich mythologies of ancient Sumer and ancient Greece, these lush paintings question and provoke, challenging established norms and offering fresh possibilities for the contemplation of the conditions of pleasure.

“Little Deaths” is on view at Galerie RX, Paris, October 14 - November 25, 2023.

Installation view, Galerie RX, Paris (Photo credit Théo Pitout)

Sacred Orgasm of Inanna (after Titian), 24”x32”, oil on canvas, 2023

Details of Sacred Orgasm of Inanna (after Titian), 24”x32”, oil on canvas, 2023

Baubo and Demeter (after El Greco), 24”x32”, oil on canvas 2023

Detail of Baubo and Demeter (after El Greco), 24”x32”, oil on canvas 2023

Virgin and Child with Saint Hanan and Saint Johanna the Baptist (after Leonardo da Vinci), 24”x32”, oil on canvas, 2023

Detail of Virgin and Child with Saint Hanan and Saint Johanna the Baptist (after Leonardo da Vinci), 24”x32”, oil on canvas, 2023

Detail of Young Girl with Adult Toy (after Johannes Vermeer), 35”x40”, oil on canvas, 2023

Detail of Young Girl with Adult Toy (after Johannes Vermeer), 35”x40”, oil on canvas, 2023

Young Girl with Adult Toy (after Johannes Vermeer), 35”x40”, oil on canvas, 2023

The Self Knowledge of Noa (after Giovanni Bellini), 18”x32”, oil on canvas, 2023

Fragment of Orgasm Stele of Inanna (“Holy Loins”), 10”x14”, oil on linen, 2023

Fragment of Orgasm Stele of Inanna (after Matisse), 24”x32”, oil on canvas, 2023

Sacred Orgasm of Inanna (after Rembrandt), 24”x32”, oil on linen, 2023

Sacred Prostitute, 9”x12”, oil on linen, 2022

The Provider (after Rodin), 18”x24”, oil on canvas, 2023

Detail of The Provider (after Rodin), 18”x24”, oil on canvas, 2023

Annunciation (after Zanobi Strozzi), 24”x30”, oil on linen, 2023

Anatomy of Pleasure, 9”x12”, oil on linen, 2023

Selected Press for Canon in Drag:

ARTNews, Canon in Drag: Female Artists Reimagine Famous Works by Men, Karen Chernick, December 26, 2023

The Brooklyn Rail, Tirtzah Bassel: Canon in Drag, Christopher T. Richards, November 2022

StirWorld, Brooklyn-based artist Tirtzah Bassel presents her new series 'Canon in Drag', Shraddha Nair, November 30th, 2022

Perfil, Clásicos de la pintura contra el patriarcado, Omar Genovese, December 3rd, 2022

BBC Radio 4: Front Row, Artist Tirtzah Bassel's Canon in Drag reimagines art history without the patriachy, July 20th, 2021

The Art Newspaper, Canon in drag: Tirtzah Bassel reimagines art history without the patriarchy, Chernick, Karen, July 7th, 2021

BBC Radio 4: Front Row, Artist Tirtzah Bassel's Canon in Drag reimagines art history without the patriachy, July 20th, 2021

Lilith Magazine, When Women Paint the Truth: Artist Tirtzah Bassel’s Female Gaze, Susan Schnur, November 15th, 2021

Installation view, Galerie RX, Paris (Photo credit Théo Pitout)

Red Sea Parting 2, 16”x16”, gouache on paper, 2024. Paintings Looking at Paintings: I made a painting of the Parting of the Red Sea and hung it on my studio wall. For several days, I looked at the painting as it hung on my studio wall, an
Red Sea Parting, 23”x22”, gouache on paper, 2024. Wound/Womb: A friend sent me an illumination from a medieval Haggadah that portrayed the Israelites emerging from the Red Sea through a vulva-shaped opening, and it made me think of the st
FROM THE EYES OF HER Women’s History Month outdoor exhibition March 1 - 31, 2024 Greenwich Street (next to Perelman Performing Arts Center and 2 WTC site) Open daily Curated by Chellis Baird Collaboration with Port Authority of NY & NJ NYC
Anatomy of Pleasure, 4”x6”, oil on board, 2023. Growing up we didn’t have great ways to learn pleasure. Sure, there were images of conventionally attractive people engaging in sexual activity, and we had access to medical illustra
Flossing, pen on paper, 7”x10”, 2023. If there’s one thing that I dislike more than flossing my own teeth, it’s flossing my kid’s teeth. It always happens late at night when we’re all too exhausted, struggling to g
Ancestors, 11”x14”, oil on canvas, 2023. When I feel overwhelmed by what is happening right now in the world, sometimes I find it helpful to zoom way, way out—say, hundreds and thousands of years—and imagine myself in conversa
She Opened Her Ear, gouache on paper, 7”x9”, 2023 I made this drawing on October 6th. I was rereading my favorite myth, the descent of the Goddess Inanna to the underworld and the first sentence of the poem caught my attention: “Fro
Fragment of Orgasm Stele of Inanna (“Holy Loins”), 10”x14”, oil on linen. The oldest recorded poem in the world is a 4000-year-old sacred ode to the goddess Inanna. In the Sacred Marriage Rite, an annual ritual reenacting the
Sacred Prostitute, 9”x12”, oil on linen, 2022. Sacred Prostitute, 9”x12”, oil on linen, 2022. I was asked in an interview if there were any self-portraits in the show. I said that Jungian practitioners might say that every one
My course Drawing as Social Practice starts tonight at SVA, and I’m grateful for a space to explore the act of drawing as a gateway for empathy, a tool that can help us reimagine our relationships to each other, to places, to ourselves. @svacon