Artists

Ellen Berkenblit

Press release

Contemporary Fine Arts is pleased to present Flugelhorns , Ellen Berkenblit’s first solo exhibition at the gallery and the artist’s first in Germany.

There are paintings and drawings with female figures that dominate a large part of the canvas, looking not at the viewer but at something or someone in their own orbit, whose particularities remain hidden from us. The figures are never centered but slightly off balance. They draw attention to themselves only to distract it again. Removed from their surroundings and taken out of context, their emotional states become the main narrative.

Complex emotions are manifested through color, while the compositions are shaped by the relationships between the figures. While the protagonists in Berkenblit's earlier paintings were rather isolated, in the new series they appear alongside other figures. Alongside tigers, horses and birds, one seems to get a glimpse of motherhood, sisterhood and friendship, or perhaps the opposite. The dynamics of their relationships seem to be inscribed in the expressive brushstrokes and muted colors.