Working with the trope of the Harlequin as Trickster Whore, Berman examines the societal constructs of the female experience. She radicalises the historically female domain of portraiture. In painting herself, Berman refutes the male gaze and objectification of women. The figures are often defiant and Berman’s gentle muted aesthetic is fraught with contrapuntal layers, the canvas appears almost bruised; the visceral and corporeal juxtaposed with a delicacy and fluidity of line and movement. Berman’s work uses its very appeal to defy expectation: a violent transgression within beauty.
Sara Berman was born in 1975 and lives and works in London. She is represented by Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery and has had solo exhibitions at numerous galleries and institutions, including her recent exhibition at the Kunsthal Museum, Rotterdam.
She studied for her MFA at Slade School of Fine Art UCL, graduating in 2016.
