Transforming Identity. Artists Bettina Sellmann, Yabun Yuma, and Ariane Boss explore how the image of women’s roles is changing. What remains fixed in societal roles, and what evolves?
This exhibition intertwines aspects of art and everyday culture. Art history, pop culture, myths, caprices, and indigenous self-determination are the focal points around which the associations of these three artists revolve.
Tradition is swept into the maelstrom of contemporary art. The transformation of identities is a malleable process in which art can play a role. This is the core message of the exhibition.
Beyond their thematic approaches, the three artists share an artistic lightness that brings joy to the experience.
• Bettina Sellmann:
Bettina Sellmann’s paintings examine aspects of role models in art and pop culture. She draws on Rococo portraits and their depictions of women, combining them with comic-like reinterpretations. Her work is characterized by a watercolor-like treatment of oil paint, where the figures sometimes seem to dissolve on the canvas. This dissolution is masterfully contrasted with bold color choices, creating a striking counterpoint.
• Yabun Yuma:
Yabun Yuma addresses the identity awareness of indigenous women in Taiwan, particularly focusing on traditional roles such as hunting, which has historically been considered a male domain. She highlights the tension between tradition and modern aspirations for equality by blending art and everyday life. As an active participant in traditional hunting societies, she incorporates her experiences and motifs into her paintings. The strong realism of her work is disrupted by drippings and the chance aesthetics of running paint.
• Ariane Boss:
Ariane Boss combines the fantastical worlds of fairy tales and mythology with themes of female roles and sexuality in these narratives. The result is small, witty, yet critical ceramic works. Irony and “visual wit”—in the best sense of the term—define her creations, lending them a unique visual language.
The three artists tackle a complex subject in such an engaging and artistic manner that visitors leave the exhibition enriched and inspired.
