In the last ten years, Loredana Nemes (b. 1972) has intensively engaged with the subjects of identity and personality. In the process, deeply personal and political issues flow into her work. The most comprehensive monograph on her oeuvre to date, which is being published in conjunction with a large solo exhibition at the Berlinische Galerie, presents six large series. In two of them she explores primal human emotions such as “fear,” for which she photographed blurry portraits of truck fronts, and “greed,” in which she depiced seagulls mercilessly hunting for food. In her work Onca: An Approach she presents male body fragments, and in beyond the foreignness of other cultures. Blossom Time depicts the transformation process of adolescence, and The Presentation deals with the subject of identity and group membership by means of portraits of costumed carnival revelers.
Despite her very clear, conceptual approach, all of Nemes’s images have a secretive, mysterious component that lends the works a great depth and allows the viewer to develop an emotional, personal connection to them.
Nemes has been shaped by three different cultures: born in Romania, she resided for a time in Iran and today lives in Germany. Insecurities about and fears of the other as well as openness and curiosity toward the other distinguish her and her work.