Teach Me to Remember: Johanna Bath and Shimon Kamada

Enari Gallery is proud to present Teach Me to Remember, a duo exhibition showcasing the works of Johanna Bath (1980) and Shimon Kamada (1997). The exhibition explores the themes of transcendence, ephemeral experiences, intimacy, and memory. The artists evoke powerful emotions which seek to capture the fleeting moments of human connection. Through their unique style and medium, they create contemplative and evocative pieces, inviting the viewer to reflect on their own experiences of memory-making.

 

As the title suggests, one of the central themes to Bath’s work is time. The idea of time and everything that is linked to that emotion such as: memory, transience and the brevity of a moment drives her need to paint. This concept then becomes abstracted as the formal elements of time are applied into a visual language. When painting, Bath reflects on those narratives of time and memory and tries to depict ‘a sense of time’ on canvas. The artist writes, “I would describe my work as poetic and feminine, also gentle, melancholic and dreamy but with a certain edge. I like to create pieces that are the opposite of a loud and aggressive image but contain the same punch of intensity by being ultimately tender and delicate, getting under the skin by being vulnerable and containing an intimacy that is inviting to the viewer.”

 

Shimon Kamada recollects his own story throughout his painting. He fuses truth and figuration with fiction and abstraction to fill the blank spaces of memory. The artist looks back at his photo album and extracts several images to make a digital collage as starting point. With oil painting, he carries all the physical experiences, delusions, and childhood dreams that provoke melancholy from his memory onto the canvas. When he catches a sense of nostalgia and emptiness for the passing of time, he translates it into images that evoke a deep sense of reflection. Stories and cultural practices become intertwined by building his works in different layers. Thus, allowing for different connotations to emerge. This complexity makes his paintings full of narrative and ambiguity, both for the artist and his audience. By infusing his works with the ominous ray of light, he seeks to offer the viewer differing associations and rich hallucinations.