Melitta Nemeth
Melitta Nemeth is a figurative painter based in London. She graduated from the Camberwell College of Arts with an MA in Painting in 2021. Her work, Night Bathers 3, was included in London Grads Now 2021 at the Saatchi Gallery and mentioned by Waldemar Januszczak in the article ‘12 future stars of the art world you should know about’.
Nemeth uses photos from diverse sources as reference, including old photographs, newspaper illustrations and her own photos to explore the female gaze in painting. Her expressive paintings, investigate how meaning is formed through the material production of the image. While reinventing the depiction of women from a female perspective, she focuses on ideas of beauty, power, body-positivity, otherness, and displacement. As a female artist, it is crucial for Nemeth to take ownership of the representation of women. Her work is concerned with changing the perception of the female body by depicting it as a place of joy, memory, experience, and personal stories. She explores how women look at women and what the male gaze cannot see. “My memories of growing up in the conservative, patriarchal world of the Eastern Block feeds into my work. I have always seen women as pillars of strength in society.” Nemeth’s paintings reveal the absurdity, joy, melancholy, lightness and darkness within this unique female experience.