For the new edition of its NEW TALENTS group show, PEP invited artists from all over the world to share what they have the most talent for. The proposals received from the international call for entries for this exhibition were very diverse, since no specific theme was imposed. The participating artists were invited to reflect on what is at the very heart of their practice as a photographer and to show what they are most passionate about. This way, they could fully express what really matters to them and what intrinsically drives them in their quest for images. From experimental techniques to documentary, travel photography or city scapes, the proposed images were various and representative of a global and contemporary approach to the medium. Social, experimental, political, autobiographical, formal and conceptual angles now enter into dialogue in the context of a collective exhibition showcasing new visions of photography from 34 selected artists of 18 different nationalities. The PEP New Talents group show will be on display at B-Part Exhibition in B-Part Am Gleisdreieck Berlin in December 2020.

Artist Trio: Alva Willemark, Hanna Wildow and Tony Karlsson Savci.

Jemila will be an artist in Residence on Governors' Island, New York in Summer with New York Universities' Virtual Volcano Observatory, where she will be working on new monumental sculpture work entitled 'Dead Gods', which will be grown from mycelium hyphae. The work will be exhibited on the island this coming fall.

Melinda Schawel is an artist who has always been drawn to the physicality of the creative process. Known predominantly for her highly textured works on paper, Melinda captures the grandeur and minutiae of the natural world in her abstracted compositions. Micro and macro details emerge from the paper through her intense manipulation of the base material, often a thick and heavy paper, using a myriad of techniques. Drilling, tearing, scoring and perforating, in combination with inks and fluid acrylic, create interplays between colour, form and texture. Melinda has recently been exploring metal, continuing to develop the push-pull tension within her work but in a more three-dimensional realm. This exhibition presents new work completed during the artist’s time in forced isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic. The uncertainty of this time caused Melinda to feel as though the world was unravelling before her eyes. In this heightened state, she found solace in her garden, taking the time to observe the details within nature and the changing seasons. “My anxiety was eventually replaced by a renewed sense of clarity and purpose that, ironically, only an extended period of quiet reflection could have led to.” As independent arts writer and curator Marguerite Brown writes, “Schawel’s forms hover on the surface, occasionally collide into one another, and act in dynamic tandem. ….From aqueous stains to areas of hard-edged mineral density, the artist adapts her methods of application in search of a visual equilibrium within each image, and notes the importance of knowing when to hold back. This awareness translates in the successful and subtle evocation of atmospheric space.”

Born in Illinois, USA, Melinda Schawel received a Bachelor in Fine Art and Communication from the University of California Santa Barbara in 1993 and a Postgraduate Degree in Printmaking from RMIT, Melbourne in 1996. She was recently commissioned by the City of Casey (Vic) to create a large-scale, integrated public art project, and has been a finalist in numerous art prizes including the Nillumbik Prize, Fisher’s Ghost Art Award and Adelaide Perry Drawing Prize (People’s Choice Award Winner in 2017). She has been featured in a variety of art publications including Art Collector, Art Guide and Artist Profile. Melinda has exhibited nationally and internationally since 1995 and her work is represented in many collections including the National Gallery of Australia, the City of Whitehorse (Vic) and Geelong Regional Gallery (Vic).