EXHIBITION
Nailshop | Év van Hettmer
Nailshop
Author: Év van Hettmer
Curator: Matej Fabian
Exhibition opening: 11. 09. 2021
Duration of the exhibition: 11. 09. – 17. 10. 2021
The current exhibition “Nailshop” refers to a space, a beauty salon, where, in addition to standard services, there is therapy, self-cleansing, whether through informal conversation or time spent in a given place. With some exaggeration we can say that they replace chapels, churches, or other places of spiritual cleansing. In addition, nail shaping is a sign of social or personal adjustment; for example, Chinese medicine considers the condition of the nails to be a sign, an index of the health of a woman’s internal organs. Another aspect is the role of the hand within Eva’s paintings. Here, the hand and the length of the nails do not become an empty decoration, but rather a claw poking at the conformity of the everyday. Beyond these and other contexts such as the status or remuneration of the workforce, or the relationship between the nail community and the fashion industry, Eva shows us perhaps the essence or the main aspect of her work, and that is the transformation of something that at first glance we perceive as banal into something serious.
Eva’s approach to painting can be described as DIY, in the way the painting is constructed, in the chosen subject matter, or in the boldness with which she handles the painting itself.
We can trace the motif of courage, for example, in the chosen colour palette, which, although informed by Fauvism, the resulting effect is not a flattering colour composition referring to Matisse, but an immediate authorial statement.
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Matej Fabian, curator
Eva Hetmer (Év van Hettmer)
Born in Nitra, currently lives and works in Hamburg. Eva holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava and a Master’s degree from the Akademie der bildenden Kunste in Vienna.
Typical for her is the flat and sensual “bad painting”, which has long been her authorial program, which goes hand in hand with the thematization of female sexuality or corporeality. Although she draws on her own intimate experience, she presents these themes lightly and without pathos, which makes the seemingly imperfect or naive childish painting appear authentic and believable.
Since 2009 she has been exhibiting individually in Slovakia, and has also participated in collective exhibitions in Slovakia, France, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Belgium. She is a finalist of the Toiles et toiles Prize 2009 in Toulouse, France, a finalist of the VÚB Painting Foundation 2011 and 2021, a double winner of the 2nd place of the VÚB Painting of the Year 2019 and 2020, 3rd place winner in 2021 and a winner of the Oskar Čepan Prize 2021.
