Debby Friday reveals video for ‘What A Man’

Fresh off of the release of her debut album ‘GOOD LUCK’, Debby Friday has revealed the video for ‘What A Man’ directed by Debby and Kevan Funk. “The ‘WHAT A MAN’ music video is loosely based on the famous essay, Ways of Seeing, by English art critic John Berger as well as paintings by the Italian Baroque painter, Artemisia Gentileschi (in particular, her iconic work ‘Judith Slaying Holofernes’),” Debby explains. “In 1972, Berger released ‘Ways of Seeing’ as both a television series via the BBC and a book. Both the series and the text function as image-based explorations of the depiction of women in Western art and culture. This work has been massively influential in cultural theory, as it introduced the concept of ‘the male gaze’. “Gentileschi is distinctive for being one of the only female professional artists of her era. Her paintings draw from myths and Biblical stories and almost always feature women as protagonists and equals to men. Arguably her most famous work, Judith Slaying Holofernes, is thought to be a self-portrait that depicts her as Judith slaying a Holofernes who resembles Agostino Tassi, a man who raped her when she was 17. “Both the essay and the paintings served as frameworks for the video. The same way that Gentileschi painted herself into images of other women is the same way I feel that every woman can see ourselves in much of Gentileschi’s story and her work. To be a woman and an artist in this world is to be, in a way, a shapeshifter. You take on the shape of whatever and whoever is looking at you - whether that be a camera, a phone, a lover, a thief, a killer. Always and all at once, you are a spectacle, a flower, a treasure, a ditch, a bitch, a miracle. “When I look at Artemisia’s paintings, I feel myself transported and transformed into the emotional field of Judith, of Jael, of Susanna. Her hand is my hand, her sword is my sword, her pain is my pain. I have always identified with women who were wild and brazen - survivors, people who exist and persist despite. I have always looked up to women who were willing to be ‘bad’ in the name of living thoroughly.” Check out the video for ‘What A Man’ below. Features / Interviews / Neu Debby Friday chats debut album and “ode to adolescence” ‘GOOD LUCK’ Coming of age in Canadian rave culture, Debby Friday is making darkly industrial music with emotion at its core. See Debby Friday live at the following dates: APRIL 12 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios 13 - Seattle, WA - Barboza 14 - Los Angeles, CA - Zebulon 15 - Vancouver, BC - Cobalt 19 - Brooklyn, NY - Babys Alright 20 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle MAY 02 - Bristol, UK - Crofters Rights 03 - London, UK - Corsica Studios w/ Grove 05 - Krems, AT - Donau Festival 06 - Brussels, BE - Botanique (La Rotonde) 09 - Paris, FR - La Hasard Ludique 10 - Lisbon, PT - ZDB 11 - Leeds, UK - Headrow House 12 - Manchester, UK - The White Hotel JUNE 08 - Melbourne, AU - Rising (Max Watts) w/ Desire Marea 12 - Sydney, AU - Vivid Wavyland Metro Theatre JULY 08 - Québec City, QC - Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ) SEPTEMBER 03 - Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot Get tickets to watch Debby Friday live now.