Sara Berman
Photo: Richard Ivey
Sara Berman, (born in the UK in 1975), obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fashion Design from Central Saint Martins in 1999. Subsequently, she founded and managed her eponymous fashion brand for 15 years. In 2016, Sara Berman completed her Master of Fine Arts in Painting at the Slade School of Fine Art. Berman has exhibited her work in London, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Milan, Miami, New York, Palm Beach, and Rotterdam; most recently in group presentations at Hauser & Wirth, London, Cedric Bardawil, London, Volta, London, Mimmo Scognamiglio, Milano, Vielmetter, LA and Larsen Warner, Stockholm. Her paintings are included in such collections and institutions as Amoca Wales, the House of KOKO in London, the Poort Visser Collection in the Netherlands and The Maison Estelle in London, Sara Berman currently lives and works in London.
The Harlequin when embodied by a woman is the “Trickster Whore”. The power and agency of this historical joker is reconsidered with performative flair as Berman examines this trope through paint in an act of obliteration. Starting each and every work with an intricate (harlequin) underpainting which is then absorbed into the portrait to a greater or lesser degree. The Trickster Whore is the constant against which Berman kicks as she reimagines herself as various and continually evolving characters: the Pierrot, the Fool, the Aviatrix, the Renaissance Man, the Fencer, the Dancing Monkey….. Berman uses Auto-Fiction to reconstruct the narrative through Portraiture.
Complex visual layering and overlaid narrative boldly seeks to challenge the construct of the female experience and rejects the objectification of women whilst claiming power through self-determination.
The delicacy of the presentation; soft hues, graceful brushwork and the filigreed layering supposes a gentle aesthetic which belies the violent physicality of its making and the immediacy of the figures themselves. In this way, Berman juxtaposes the visceral and corporeal with the ethereal and vulnerable.
Within the paintings the figures are hidden in plain sight; caught in various poses, postures and assuming the gaze, the characters depicted conveying tragicomical gamut of emotions, from fear, grace, longing and loss: allowing for a confrontational but reflective visual engagement.
In its Auto-Fiction Berman’s work reflects our current times while incorporating historical influences and art historical references, addressing the personal, the political and the celebration and horrors of being who we are as individuals in this moment of our collective history.
While primarily a painter, Berman’s practice reflects her former career as a fashion designer in the construction (and deconstruction) of the costumes which appear in her paintings and the photoshoots in which Berman enacts her auto-fictionalised characters. The performative nature of her process is further reflected in collaborations with film-makers.
