Jemima Stelhi

Jemima Stehli (b. 1961) is widely known for her photographic works of the late 1990s and early 2000s which explored themes of sexuality and the gaze, working with sculpture, photography and performance often using her naked body. Happenstance marks the first introduction to Stehli’s recent abstract painting, a progression which the artist understands as a natural evolution of the physicality of the earlier work.

Drawing on the performance that informed the photographs, Stehli’s painting is determined by the reach, movement, and limitations of her body. The composition and execution of these large-scale works recall the blurred moving figures of earlier photographs. Paint is poured onto the canvas, moved and drawn with the artist’s hands in direct contact with the surface. Re asserting the deeply visceral approach that has always been at the core of her practice, Stehli embraces the absence of imagery and control in favour of material immediacy and pleasure, working fast with layers of fluid washes, waxy and oily texture, she is fully immersed in the process.

"Id rather risk an ugly surprise than rely on things I know I can do"

—Helen Frankenthaler

Jemima Stehli’s exhibition Happenstance is the building on accident and change embodied in and through this act of painting.

Jemima Stehli lives and works in London and South Devon. She received her BA Honours Fine Art at Goldsmith’s College in 1983, and her MA Fine Art from Goldsmith’s in 1991. Jemimas solo exhibitions include 1961 Projects in Singapore, Focal Point Gallery in Southend, Artra in Milan, Galerie Bernd Kluser in Munich, Lisboa 20 in Lisbon, Centro de Arte Visuais in Coimbra, Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver, Chisenhale Gallery and City Racing in London.

Group shows include exhibitions at Serralves Museum in Porto, Centro Cultural de Belem in Lisbon, Tate Modern in London, Centre de La Photographie in Geneva, Musee d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain in Nice, South London Gallery and the ICA in London among many others.