Eva BeresinHungary

Eva Beresin’s (b. 1955, Budapest, HU) works depict people, often herself, whose bodies are distorted, faces are contorted into grotesque grimaces, and whose forms seem to merge with animals, such as birds or frogs – in bizarre ways. Her paintings are rich in detail and often contain subtle cultural references with a strong symbolic power that testifies to high thoughtfulness. Many of her paintings also feature a smartphone; themes such as beauty, self-confidence, and self-acceptance are hereby addressed, as well as the processing of her own family trauma. The unimaginable harm that was committed to her parents during the Holocaust is inscribed in her own physical memory and fundamentally present in her artistic practice.

The works are able to transport an ambivalence, the motifs reflect at the same time something humorous, funny, and unfold on a closer look a melancholic absurdity, an abyss that can be guessed, a multi-layered representation of what the artist is characterized by. Lightness, humor, and optimism can be found next to trauma, violence, and disorientation in the infinite expanse of one’s own stories, experiences, and imprints.

Beresin studied at the Budapest School of Visual Arts and lives and works in Vienna. Her recent institutional solo exhibition Thick Air at Albertina Modern in Vienna (2024) coincided with the publication of her major monograph The Wedding of Humor and Horror (Hatje Cantz, 2024). She has held, among others, solo shows at Casa MB Milan (2023), La Nave Salinas Ibiza (2022), Spazio Amanita New York (2022), and M+B Los Angeles (2021), and has been featured in major international group exhibitions, including at Artissima (2021), Art Cologne (2021, 2020), and NADA Miami (2021). In 2020, she published the widely acclaimed book My Mother’s Diary: Ninety-Eight Pages (Verlag für moderne Kunst), a deeply personal exploration of intergenerational trauma. Her works are held in numerous international private collections and are increasingly sought after in institutional contexts.