FATEBE: Ebecho Muslimova

Galerie Maria Bernheim is thrilled to announce an exhibition of new work by Ebecho Muslimova (b.1984, Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia, lives in New York). Muslimova will present a new series of paintings and drawings continuing around the motif of FATEBE, her sexually and bodily liberated alter-ego. FATEBE is shameless and free, exploring the world and its ridiculous situations with her body. The new works appear to center around the danse macabre, the middle age allegorical image of the fragility of life. FATEBE interacts with skeletons and churches, stripping and playing in compositions that continue to defy received societal ideas of taste and decorum. The danse macabre sought to illustrate the unification of the human race through death: kings, popes, merchants, farmers and paupers were all destined to walk on the same path. Muslimova chooses instead to organize the world and FATEBE through a search of pleasure and possibility. The inconceivable contortions and object interaction are always felt in the viewers’ mind. Far from a critique of worldly delights, Muslimova’s new works insists on the glory of bodily exploration and ecstasy. 

Always grounded in the graphic and pictorial, Muslimova’s recent venture into the medium of painting has opened an incredible new playground for her character FATEBE, unlocking possibilities to portray her in extraordinary situations and configurations. Working through different techniques and methods, the artist is able to depict states, feelings and emotions in a humorous way, using her alter ego as an alibi, she is able to touch on subjects that can appear uncomfortable.

By titling the exhibition inversely, as if FATEBE will exhibit works picturing Muslimova, the artist continues to insist on the importance of self depiction and understanding in her work. Far from a mere character, FATEBE explores sexuality and gender and our sustained limited understanding of both in contemporary society. Through these works we find a way not just to understand Muslimova, but, perhaps, ourselves. 

Muslimova received her BFA at Cooper Union in New York, NY in 2010. Muslimova will have a solo show at the Drawing Center in New York and will be included in the Belgrade Biennale 2020, she has presented solo exhibitions at Magenta Plains, New York, NY; Galerie Maria Bernheim, Zürich, CH; White Flag Projects, St. Louis, MO and Room East, New York, NY. Her work has been included in group exhibitions at Eva Presenhuber, Zürich, CH; Kunsthalle St. Gallen, CH; Tanya Leighton, Berlin, DE; Delmes & Zander, Cologne, DE; and Ellis King, Dublin, IE. Muslimova created a large scale mural for in The 32nd Biennale of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2017. Her work has been featured in publications such as Forbes, The New York Times, Artforum, Art in America, Mousse, Artnet, Hyperallergic, and Cura Magazine, among others. Muslimova is included in Jeffrey Deitch's book, Unrealism, featuring 27 artists and major essays by Johanna Fateman, Alison Gingeras, and Aria Dean. The artist currently lives and works in New York, NY.