Melike Kara at Peres Projects, Berlin
Melike Kara’s works swing from tranquil—as in the contemplative (though, nonetheless, joyful) pink and peach toned part the horses—to highly energetic—the suggestive grouping of three nude figures amidst thick jungle-like plants, depicted in electric blues in if you SAY so, is a great example. There is a vagueness to the figures, a fluidity of gender and simplicity of expression. There are also many recurring motifs, especially in the tropical plant life that surrounds, shields and reveals the human subjects.
Kara is one of the numerous female artists to show solo at Independent, with Berlin’s Peres Projects. The artist was born in Bensberg, Germany in the mid-80s and she currently lives and works in Cologne. Since graduating in 2014 she has had various solo exhibitions in Germany, most recently at Peres Projects itself.
Darja Bajagić at Carlos/Ishikawa, London
Darja Bajagić’s confronting works will play a big role in Independent’s activities this year, showing solo at Independent New York with Carlos/Ishikawa, then moving to Independent Régence in Brussels for a dual show with Issy Wood and finally showing at Independent Brussels in April. Bajagić’s artwork has incorporated pornographic imagery, serial killers’ letters and drawings, and images of murder victims, pressing on ideas of what should be seen and what should be censored, as well as breaking down the often violent and misgynistic original images. You can read our interview with the Montenegrin artist in Issue 24.
Katherine Bradford at CANADA, New York
Katherine Bradford’s paintings are ambiguous and dreamy, her sun- or moonlight-drenched figures displaying no facial features. They lounge in water, floating on the surface or lying on surfboards. At times their bodies meld with the water itself, distorted in blue ripples. One couple, in the simply named Couple, Beach are sliced in half by the sky behind them, with thin air in place of swimwear. Bradford’s work has high visibility–we seem to see her at every fair we visit–yet it feels as though there’s more to discover on each viewing; works that at first seem simple offering layer upon layer for the viewer to peel back. The American artist was born in the 1940s and has been awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts.
Nancy Shaver at Derek Eller Gallery, New York
Nancy Shaver collapses binary ideas that we often encounter in the art world—professional and amateur, items that have a practical use and those which do not—in a wide-reaching practice which has, over the years, included coordinating the work of multiple other artists, working with found objects and creating sculptures from a plethora of materials such as dress fabric, household paint and cardboard boxes. True to her line of enquiry, the final works are difficult to place, holding formal qualities and a clean finish in some places, while also bearing traces of their less ceremonious roots. Her work will show alongside Despina Stokou, born in Athens, Greece in the late 70s, at Independent New York. Shaver was born in the late 40s in New York where she currently lives and works.
Tatiana Trouvé at Galerie Perrotin, Paris/New York
Tatiana Trouvé works across a range of mediums, including sculpture, installations and drawing. Her work typically has an architectural aspect to it, reworking forms associated with household objects and playing with interior walls and spaces. In Trouvé’s work the real world meets with the imagined one, considering space as a physical area which is depicted with a high knowledge of the lines and rules which govern it—though these rules are then turned on their heads and we find ourselves also considering fantastical planes and forms, as well as the wider concepts and uses of architectural space itself. The interior space as a place to work has been a recurring element for Trouvé. The Italian artist was born in the 1960s in Cosenza and she currently lives and works in Paris. She has shown globally, with previous solo shows in cities such as Beijing, Lyon, Geneva and New York.
Barbara Bloom at David Lewis, New York
Barbara Bloom counts as one of the fair’s female solo booths, but she is also included in a selection of works which look to 80s artists—showing works from the 80s and new works from artists who were practicing at that time. A number of her works will be shown from the Travel Posters series, which juxtapose welcoming images (palm trees blowing in the winds, sunny seaside scenes) with aggressive statements, and occasionally present images which have a more sinister aspect to them—such as the two people in shadow conversing in an airport, in Open 24 Hours. Although this series comes from the 80s, there are timely connections for our current climate also, with many references to the blockage of people and items in travel. Her Around the Globe work from the 90s will also be shown. Bloom was born in the 50s in Los Angeles and has been connected with The Picture Generation.
Independent New York runs from 2-5 March at Spring Studios, Tribeca. independenthq.com
