Fatima Jamal
Fatima Jamal | |
|---|---|
| Born | Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | FatFemme |
| Alma mater | Morehouse College The New School |
| Occupation(s) | Filmmaker, model, interdisciplinary artist |
| Known for | No Fats, No Femmes, Pose |
| Website | fatimajamal |
Fatima Jamal is an American filmmaker, model, writer, and interdisciplinary artist. A Black transgender woman who goes by the moniker "Fat Femme," Jamal is also an activist who speaks and makes art about social issues including racism, body positivity, and LGBTQ rights.[1]
Biography
[edit]Jamal was born in Atlanta, Georgia and attended Morehouse College.[2] She completed a graduate program at The New School, where she studied documentary filmmaking.[3] Jamal underwent her gender transition after finishing graduate school.[3] She credits her move from Atlanta to New York City as giving her the opportunity to thrive.[4]
Career
[edit]About her art, Jamal has said, "My art really focuses on a black, queer, femme experience because those are all things that I'm interested in. I will never grow tired of capturing black, queer, and trans people and excavating our histories."[4]
Acting and modeling
[edit]Jamal has modeled on runways at New York Fashion Week, is a fixture of the ballroom scene, and has appeared in the TV show Pose.[4] She was the first black trans model to walk the runway for a major menswear fashion house, for Stefano Pilati's unisex line in fall 2020.[5]
Jamal starred in Tourmaline's film Atlantic is a Sea Bones (2017), which takes its title from an eponymous poem by Lucille Clifton.[6] The film concerns black queer history in New York City.[7]
Directorial work
[edit]In 2020, Jamal began a crowdfunding campaign on the website Indiegogo to support a documentary, No Fats, No Femmes, that Jamal is writing and directing. According to her fundraising campaign, the film "examines and troubles how the gazes of others — particularly dominant white gazes — inform how we see ourselves and each other. In it, I center and am fascinated by my own Black, fat body as a site of criticism; and, an invitation inward, toward self — often, a self un-done, vulnerable, and terrifying." As of September 2020, the campaign had raised more than $55,000.[8] The project was featured in Artforum in July 2020.[9]
Legacy
[edit]Jamal has been cited as a source of inspiration by other contemporary artists.[10] Gabriel Garcia Román's “Queer Icons” series of paintings (started in 2011), which honors queer activists and artists, includes a portrait of Jamal.[11]
References
[edit]- ^ "The Glow Up 50's Image: Fatima Jamal, aka 'Fat Femme'; Artist, Author-Activist and Model". The Root. G/O Media. 16 March 2020. Archived from the original on 24 April 2025. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
- ^ Greenwood, Douglas (11 February 2019). "how to live a radical existence, with fatima jamal". i-D. In collaboration with Maison Margiela. Vice Media. Archived from the original on 4 May 2025. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
- ^ a b Anderson, Tre'vell (3 April 2020). "With 'No Fats, No Femmes,' Fatima Jamal aims for more than just visibility and representation". Xtra. Pink Triangle Press. Archived from the original on 18 January 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
- ^ a b c Thompson, Tracy (7 November 2018). "Fatima Jamal Is Styling". Jezebel. Archived from the original on 14 July 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
- ^ Abad, Mario (13 January 2020). "Fatima Jamal (FatFemme) Made History on Florence Runway". Paper. Archived from the original on 24 January 2025. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
- ^ Casid, Jill H. (2019). "Doing things with being undone". Journal of Visual Culture. 18 (1): 38–42. doi:10.1177/1470412919825817. ISSN 1470-4129. S2CID 194658508.
- ^ Muna, Mire (16 October 2020). "Tourmaline Summons the Queer Past". Frieze (214). Archived from the original on 22 January 2025. Retrieved 4 May 2025.
- ^ "No Fats, No Femmes". Indiegogo. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
- ^ Jamal, Fatima (July–August 2020). "Project Fatima Jamal". Artforum. 58 (10). ISSN 1086-7058. ProQuest 2426194665. Archived from the original on 23 June 2024. Retrieved 4 May 2025.
- ^ Jones, Java (16 June 2020). "2020's MFA Grads on What It Means to Be an Artist Today". Artsy. Archived from the original on 23 April 2025. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
While in the studio, I often refer to this question Fatima Jamal posed in an Xtra interview: 'Representation and visibility is given to us by larger power structures, but what do we give ourselves?'
- ^ Durón, Maximilíano (10 June 2019). "Leslie-Lohman Museum Will Stage Procession of 'Queer Icons' During NYC Pride March". ARTnews. Archived from the original on 27 November 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
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