Hadassah Emmerich
PRESS RELEASE
Embarking on a Journey through Sensuality,
Femininity, and the Intersection of Identities.
Renowned Dutch painter Hadassah Emmerich takes center stage as one of the most influential female artists of her generation, captivating audiences with her exuberant, sensual paintings that transcend traditional boundaries. Born in Heerlen in 1974, Emmerich’s artistic prowess lies in her ability to weave a rich tapestry of themes, associations, and meanings within her works.
Emmerich’s creative process is a cyclical exploration, where shapes and patterns engage in a perpetual dialogue, forming a dense web of themes and associations. Her laborious approach demands great physical and mental effort, infusing each detail with extra layers of meaning. The result is a collection of monumental and generous works that leave a profound impact on the viewer, evoking feelings of ecstasy.
The essence of Emmerich’s oeuvre lies in the power of fusing, a characteristic that also distinguishes her at an identity level as she herself is a fantastic fusion (German mother/Indonesian father).Through her work, she seamlessly blends figures and patterns of flowers, plants, and the female body, creating ornaments with an unmistakable erotic allure. These alluring images symbolize fundamental life forces and fertility, essential to both nature and humanity. In her recent stylized visual idiom, as seen in «Kiwi Kiss» (2021), Emmerich challenges viewers with ambiguous shapes that may suggest leaves or genitalia, and foliage resembling licking tongues.
Emmerich’s work carries a sense of urgency,addressing power dynamics between genders and feminism with directness and self-awareness. The post-colonial era also plays a significant role in her themes, adding a raw, dark edge to her vibrant works. «Rainbow Warriors» (2020) serves as a poignant example, exploring the coercive straitjacket of today’s physical ideals juxtaposed with the colored bodies of warriors creating a barricade for protection and liberation.
Repetition is a vital element in Emmerich’s creative process, employing templates, stencils, and printing techniques to explore the reproduction and recontextualization of knowledge and meaning. This is evident in her murals, paradoxically one-off in nature yet providing a unique context for the forms they contain, creating new layers of meaning for future use. In 2021, Emmerich took a bold step by incorporating inked vinyl pieces used as printing templates into a new series of vinyl collages.
Emmerich’s «Body Talk» series delves into the immersive and sensual realm of bodies, desires, and seductions.The paintings whirl audiences through a range of conflicting emotions and reflections, showcasingthe artist’s fascination with the complexities of desire.The anonymous protagonists parade as disconnected and interconnected body parts, creating a visually enticing yet thought-provoking narrative.The series navigates the tension between repulsion and attraction, the conscious critique of societal mechanisms,and the unconscious depths of personal longing. Emmerich’s recent series, titled «The Great Ephemeral Skin,» draws inspiration from Jean-François Lyotard’s «Libidinal Economy» (1974), exploring the explicit and abstract dimensions of the female body.The works mark a new phase in Emmerich’s artistic practice, featuring enlarged and abstracted motifs reminiscent of body parts. The series plays a duplicitous game with the viewer, approaching the female body as both an object and a motif that can be repeated until it becomes a pattern. Emmerich challenges the viewer to navigate the paradox of simultaneous attraction and repulsion, intimacy and coolness, seduction and criticism. The works occupy the space between these polarities, sparking a provocative experience for those who engage with them.
Hadassah Emmerich’s art is a multifaceted exploration that transcends conventional boundaries, inviting viewers into a world where sensuality, feminism, and identity intersect. With a commitment to pushing the limits of her creative process and addressing urgent themes with depth and self-awareness, Emmerich stands as a visionary artist shaping the contemporary art landscape.
HADASSAH EMMERICH
*Heerlen (NL), 1974
Lives and works in Brussels
Body and identity, the sensory and the sensual, the commodification of the erotic and the exotic: these are frequently recurring themes in Hadassah Emmerich’s work.
The sensuality of her painting resides not only on the surface of the (erotic) image but also in her refined use of colour and technical execution. Since 2016, Emmerich has worked with a new painting technique, using stencils cut from vinyl flooring, which she covers with ink and then impresses onto canvas, paper or a wall. Referring to the visual language of advertising and Pop art, she creates images that both aestheticise and problematize the female body. She depicts the paradox of simultaneous attraction and repulsion, intimacy and cool detachment, seduction and critique. In this way, Emmerich succeeds in making the act of looking truly provocative.
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