exhibited:

23.05.-24.07.2024 SARAH BECHTER Neurotic Independence, Someday Gallery, New York, USA;

22.05.-12.07.2025 SARAH BECHTER Jostle, Galerie Elisabeth & Klaus Thoman, Wien, AT



The abstract paintings in the exhibition correspond to the idea of such an initial undifferentiation, as described by Irigaray in the quoted passage. These small-format works are characterized by the same fantastical color spectrum as their figurative equivalents, though here it is dominated by submarine blues and rusty violets. The flowing, torn, and at times gaping compositions originate in ink that Sarah Bechter applies directly onto the canvas. Scenes emerge from this preconscious painting using oil paints, where color and figuration meet at the threshold of representation. The faces that surface are both euphoric and characterized by longing and horror—and they find their echo in the impression they leave on me as a viewer. In both series presented in the exhibition, the painterly process, which does not begin with a blank canvas, can also to be read metaphorically: A female artist’s work is never unmarked, but always already defined by attributions, social constructions, and limitations. Jostle responds to this immensity and counters it with a space that is not the void. (Leonie Huber, abstract from the exhibition text for ‘Jostle’, 05.2025)