Babette Semmer

Weil es Olga war, 2019

50 x 40 cm

Acrylic on canvas

Unique work, signed

Babette Semmer's paintings mix references to past painting styles with forms expressions revealing our contemporary moment. Immersed in coloured light, Semmer's fictitious figures mostly refer to literary narratives and traditional allegories and given them new meanings. For "Birnenschnitte", whose title alludes to Dürer's painting "Maria mit der Birnenschnitte" (1512), the artist replaces the apple as a forbidden fruit with a pear, thus referring to the uncertainty of the Latin term 'malum' (evil). 'Weil es Olga war' (Because it was Olga), the portrait of a woman with a blue dotted blouse, presents a subordinate clause in the title. The main clause, however, can only be speculated about. Did one perhaps make an exception because it was Olga? Babette Semmer (b. 1989, London) completed her studies in the class of Monika Baer and Amy Sillman at Städelschule in Frankfurt. Her work has been shown at Three Works, Scarborough (2019); Städelmuseum, Frankfurt; Turf Projects, London; Museum für angewandte Kunst, Frakfurt (all 2018) and Kornhäuschen Aschaffenburg (2017). She lives in Berlin.