“Merci, Gisele Pelicot”: New Painting

“Merci, Gisele Pelicot”. Oil on Canvas, 30×20”, by Jordan Danger

I've been working on this series of paintings, called my Iconic Women Series. These paintings all depict historically impactful women who have often been minimized, stereotyped, or even villified. I paint them as if they are modern women, experiencing the world NOW, as it is, after their own influence on it. I think of it as a love letter to these often-overlooked or misunderstood women, because they never got to experience the world they helped to influence. Well this month, I decided to paint Gisele Pelicot.

Gisele is the wildly brave woman who testified against her husband and fifty men who SA'd her while she was unconscious over the course of a decade. Gisele's case will help transform France's consent laws, which until now had no clear wording to protect the unconscious. Maybe even more impactful is that her case has shone a spotlight on the chat rooms where over 70,000 men have been sharing tips on how to SA wives, sisters, and friends.

Now, Gisele is still alive today and in fact, I have opted to paint her as her exact actual age....Because I don't know what the world will look like in the future, but I know that Gisele has had a historical impact on her PRESENT. And she deserves to be depicted in my painting series as a woman who is experiencing the world she has influenced.