Since her solo exhibition debut 4 years ago at Galerie PACT in Paris, Emily Ludwig Shaffer's work has been exhibited in a number of solo and group exhibitions in the United States and Europe. Having also had a duo exhibition with Françoise Grossen at L'Inconnue, New York, she is now back with a solo exhibition at
Peres Projects Berlin. In
In Stead of Me, her latest project, she reflects on this idea: to act instead of someone is to hold or stand in their place. A premise that ends up translating into contradictions and dualities inherent to human beings, which generates a fantastic result loaded with meaning when it comes to painting.
Describing this exhibition as having come together intuitively and organically, the artwork she now presents is the result of a stage of change in her life. She also came across a selection of works –
Sashay This Way (2022),
City of Lady (2022), and
Deep Foundations and High Wallswhich (2022) – drawing inspiration from Christine de Pizan's proto-feminist literary work The Book of the City of Ladies. A book with more than six centuries of history that let the artist create feminised spaces, demonstrating that there have always been women artists though their names have been silenced on many occasions.
The categories are intermingled in the exhibition hosted by Peres Projects, all under a unique artistic vision in which the placement of urban elements, the intimated but non-present female figures, perspectives and the use of colour, among other elements, help create an artwork that immerses the viewer. You can visit it until January 6, 2023.