Klassische Haltung Männer zugeordnet (bl.-arb.), 2006

Intimate and haunting, <i>Klassische Haltung Männer zugeordnet (bl.-arb.)</i>,<i> </i>is an outstanding example of Miriam Cahn’s singular oeuvre. Executed in 2006, the title of the present work translates from German to “Classic posture assigned to men (bl.-arb.).” Imbued with quiet emotion, Cahn’s diaphanous and ambiguous figures appear simultaneously foreign and familiar. With nuanced sensitivity, Cahn has transformed sensuous golden hues into figurative form, highlighting genitals, breasts, and eyes, suggesting a sense of fragility and fecundity. At once alluring and disquieting, Cahn’s sitter appears to have no edges. She is boundless. Cahn’s soft edged subject is determined only by the diffusive auras which surrounds her, mediating between motif, figure and nonfigurative space.<br /><p>In the present work a veiled woman rendered in glowing vermillion sits idle, yet confronts the viewer with her swollen appendages in a full frontal masculine stance; unapologetic and matter of fact. In the 1990s, Cahn began working in oil paint, which she had previously avoided as she considered it a quintessentially masculine medium. However, with the introduction of oil paint came more vibrant colours. Primarily focusing on nude individuals or groups of people in empty, abstract space, Cahn’s painterly style seems to derive from children’s drawings, outsider art and cartoons, often leading characters into atmospheres suggestive of discomfort. Since the 1970s, Cahn’s paintings push for the abolishment of social norms, and seek to counter traditional representations of female and gender-specific roles. </p><p>Her work is held in esteemed public collections including The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate Modern, London; Museo Nacional Centro de Reina Sofia, Madrid; and Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw where in 2019 she was the subject of a major retrospective which also travelled to the Haus der Kunst, Munich. Most recently, in 2022, her work was prominently featured in the Venice Biennale exhibition <i>The Milk of Dreams, </i>curated by Cecilia Alemani. Vivacious and daunting, <i>Klassische Haltung Männer zugeordnet (bl.-arb.) </i>is a masterful example of Cahn’s pioneering enquiry into the progressive potential of painting.</p>