Of Desire and Anime
Installation view of the exhibition “Flirty cry baby” at Ginsberg + Tzu Lima
Vanessa Karin presents The Girlfriend Experience, her second solo exhibition at the at Ginsberg + Tzu, solidifying a rigorous visual discourse on contemporary desire and feminine identity. The exhibition is a powerful continuation of the exploration Karin began in 2021 into the language of manga and hentai. By instrumentalizing the figure of ‘the doll’, the artist transcends mere representation and delves into the complexities of fetishism and objectification. Karin uses the intensity of animation and painting to address the persistent search for connection and affection that subsists even within hypersexualized environments.
From Objectification to Autobiographical Catharsis
In this new installment, The Girlfriend Experience becomes profoundly autobiographical. Karin employs her characteristic vibrant chromatic palette and gestural brushwork to confront the transactional nature of emotional relationships, highlighting the inherent irony in the exchange of intimacy. The work functions as both a denunciation and a catharsis of the uncomfortable intersection between adult desire and the persistent infantilization of the female body in popular culture. Through compositions that are at once seductive and critical, Vanessa Karin not only documents a social phenomenon but also offers a mirror that compels the viewer to confront their own complicity in the commodification of affection and intimate experience. The exhibition thus establishes itself as a culmination in the artist's recent trajectory, utilizing visual explosiveness to dismantle power structures and to re-signify the female figure beyond the consuming gaze.
Max Hernández Calvo at the show.
Installation view of the series Of Desire and Anime exhibited at Group Show "This is NOT FanArt".
La novia perfecta
Oil and embroidery on canvas
160 x 100 cm
2023
Ella es solo un juguete
Oil and embroidery on canvas
130 x 90 cm
2023
Ella es, otra vez, solo un juguete
Oil and embroidery on canvas
120 x 110 cm
2023
La fantasía acompaña
Oil and embroidery on canvas
120 x 60 cm
2023
Untitled
Oil and embroidery on canvas
140 x 80 cm
2023
Installation view.
Rurudo
Oil and embroidery on canvas
150 x 100 cm
2023
Cunnilingus
Oil and embroidery on canvas
90 x 30 cm
2023
Installation view.
Roja, rosada y usada
Oil and embroidery on canvas
130 x 100 cm
2023
Foot fetishism
Oil and embroidery on canvas
130 x 100 cm
2023
La divertisima vida sexual de una webcam girl
Oil and embroidery on canvas
130 x 100 cm
2023
NO/YES
Animation
2023
“NO/YES,” WAS presented in “The Girlfriend Experience” (2023), Vanessa Karin’s second solo exhibition. The work consists of an animated diptych that confronts two approaches to the sexual act: one from trauma and the other from myth. Through the animations titled “NO” and “YES,” the artist reflects on consent, the awareness of sexual violence as a recurring issue, and the desire for a love without fear. The first animation, “NO,” presents the artist within what appears to be a nightmare. However, she awakens in the real world only to discover that sexual abuse is part of everyday life. This awakening marks the transition from a safe zone to a reality where evil is tangible and constant. The work captures the impact of recognizing violence as a social structure, not as an exception. In contrast, “YES” draws on the foundational myth of Adam and Eve. In this animation, the two gaze at each other with love, and the scene culminates with Eve tasting the semen. The artist reconstructs a narrative where desire is reciprocated and consensual. In her words: “The need for comfort leads me to a myth that I’m not even sure I believe, but it allows me to imagine a world without violence (sexual abuse).”