Gathering is pleased to participate in Art Genève for the first time with a presentation of paintings by Tamara K.E..
The fair marks Tamara K.E.’s first solo showing with Gathering since joining the gallery and follows her collaborative show Sports Illustrated at Frieze Cork Street with the gallery. Over the course of her career, K.E. has shifted from focusing on socio-critical conceptual painting to exploring a language that delves into the sensitivities of cultural memories and the moment of transition toward an ‘unknown future.’ Her work intertwines whispers and information jams, with each scene—viewed naturally through a female lens—hinting at states of dissolution or delirium within a continuum. This interplay constructs seemingly random yet interconnected systems of codes, signifiers, and energy fields—a stage of sorts that bids farewell to history. Philosopher Boris Groys notes the ‘Dadaistic’ manner in which K.E. stages a ‘free and slightly dreamy game of associations’ in her practice, as she assembles a diverse range of images, objects, and references into paintings that are both ludic and unsettling.
The booth will showcase recent works from K.E.’s series Cool Girls Die Twice. This series sees the aesthetics of K.E.’s oeuvre extended to new levels through vibrant multitudes of colours. The focus of these works is often on an isolated, lonely female figure, an extension of the private and female-oriented nature of the artist’s practice. Codified images and figures reference past works, like characters existing in a liminal, in between space. The artist dissects her subjects over and over again, a testament to the complexity and importance of her technique, subject matter, and materiality.
