Reimagining the female gaze - Melitta Nemeth скачать в хорошем качестве

Reimagining the female gaze - Melitta Nemeth

Melitta Nemeth is a London-based painter who uses the classical subject of the Baigneuses to explore the female gaze. Redefining a theme that has been so proliferated in the Western art history, Nemeth re-assigns the power back to the female subjects by capturing their intimate instances of solitude and wistfulness through chromatically dynamic compositions. Romanticised female nudes and the voyeuristic onlooker has been a proliferated subject in Western art history. Melitta Nemeth draws from Old Master compositions, in particular artists such as Édouard Manet and Paul Gauguin, to redefine the subject of the Baigneuses that is commonly presented through the male perspective. In her strive to reevaluate this trope, the artist captures her female heroines in their intimate instances of solitude and wistfulness through chromatically dynamic compositions. The artist has long been interested in how women feel and express themselves when alone; how they react to their own emotions when unsullied by the male gaze. Instantly recognisable, Nemeth’s works transport the viewer deep into the midst of a mystical jungle of vibrant brushstrokes. The abstracted background of water streams and plants frame the scenes, injecting depth and a sense of dissociation. The unexpected chromatic choice of works such as Found (2021) add a layer of mystery as the yellow and red hues set the seemingly tranquil figure ablaze. Becoming one with their surroundings, the figures invite the viewer to project their own reflections and associations to amplify this sense of dramatic emotion and inner turmoil. Nemeth explains, “Though the figures in my works are inspired by found imagery, they are transformed through a process that reveals my emotions and ideas.” Her muses, each heightened by individual shape, form and colour, appeared passive on the outside while the inverted colour scheme reveals their vibrant inner worlds. Manipulating colour as if playing with fire and ice, Nemeth creates work that emanates a sensuous, serene sense of nostalgia.