Install photos of ๐ต๐๐น๐ ๐๐๐ธ๐ฝ๐พ๐๐ at
@kristinhjellegjerdegallery in Berlin. Alongside
@makikoharris and
@manuelabenaim
On view now until November 15
โFragmented body parts, twisting torsos, masked and floating faces. Body Archive brings together three artists whose practices variously explore the female body as site, surface and symbol. Drawing on art history, mythology, and contemporary representations of femininity, the works in this exhibition examine the complexities of selfhood, desire, memory and the performance of identity.
Emily Popeโs tightly cropped paintings place us in the unsettling role of the voyeur, as if we are peering through a letterbox or observing a peep show, catching glimpses of a body that feels both familiar and strange. This is especially true in the work depicting a voluptuous, milky torso and exposed breasts. The body here is an archetype, derived from a compilation of art historical references and the artistโs personal archives - a form we feel weโve encountered before, but canโt quite place. Similarly, paintings of a womanโs raised collarbones and tightly corseted body evoke a haunting sense of recognition, even as the context for these figures is deliberately stripped away, leaving us to fill in the gaps. These works invite us in, only to hold us at armโs length, challenging us to reflect not only on the long history of womenโs objectification, but also on how cultural symbols endure, even as their meanings unravel.
The question arises: is the body performing for us, or is it our perspective that shapes the image? Or perhaps it is a combination of both. Popeโs paintings ask us to confront the difficulty of transcending inherited ideas of the female form, while also questioning how these symbols continue to shape our understanding of identity.โ Text by
@milliewalton 
