Janaina Tschäpe on Sea, Myth, and Abstraction at Hastings Contemporary
German-Brazilian artist Janaina Tschäpe presents 'Conversations with the sea' at Hastings Contemporary, running until 13 September 2026. The exhibition features a 1999 film 'He Drowned in her Eyes as she called him to follow', a large 2023 painting 'Sereias' (600 x 802 cm) inspired by a text from Brazilian artist Tunga, and a series of fourteen watercolour and pastel works on paper created after a visit to Hastings in November 2025. A major oil and oil stick painting 'Meeresatem (Breathing the shore)' (219 x 407 cm) from 2025 directly responds to the Hastings coastline. Tschäpe discusses her shift from performance to painting, the influence of female performance artists like Rebecca Horn, Marina Abramovic, and Ana Mendieta, and her process of translating the movement of the sea into gesture. The show is part of a trio of exhibitions at Hastings Contemporary, alongside Miguel Rothschild's 'Undercurrents' and a joint show of Lucian Freud and Henry Moore.
Key facts
- Janaina Tschäpe's exhibition 'Conversations with the sea' is at Hastings Contemporary until 13 September 2026.
- The exhibition includes the 1999 film 'He Drowned in her Eyes as she called him to follow'.
- The painting 'Sereias' (2023) is 600 x 802 cm, oil and oil stick on linen.
- The painting 'Meeresatem (Breathing the shore)' (2025) is 219 x 407 cm, oil and oil stick on linen.
- Tschäpe created a series of fourteen watercolour and pastel works on paper after visiting Hastings in November 2025.
- Tschäpe was inspired by a text from Brazilian artist Tunga, 'Mermaids do Exist', sent to her in 1997.
- Tschäpe cites Rebecca Horn, Marina Abramovic, and Ana Mendieta as influences.
- Hastings Contemporary also shows Miguel Rothschild's 'Undercurrents' and a joint show of Lucian Freud and Henry Moore.
Entities
Artists
- Janaina Tschäpe
- Miguel Rothschild
- Lucian Freud
- Henry Moore
- Tunga
- Rebecca Horn
- Marina Abramovic
- Ana Mendieta
- Paul Carey-Kent
- Moore/Freud
Institutions
- Hastings Contemporary
- Artlyst
- Rangda Productions
- CAC Málaga
- Den Frie Center of Contemporary Art
- Contemporary Museum of Art, St. Louis
- FRAC Champagne-Ardennes
- Fundação Iberê Camargo
- Irish Museum of Modern Art
- Kasama Nichido Museum of Art
- Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson
- Musée de l'Orangerie
- Sarasota Art Museum
- 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
- CCBB, Rio de Janeiro
- Centre d'Art Contemporain de Normandie
- Centre Pompidou
- Cidade Matarazzo
- Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil
- Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
- Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
- National Museum of Women in the Arts
- Whitechapel Gallery
- Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía
- Harvard Art Museums
- Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro
- Moderna Museet
- Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary
- Brooklyn Museum
- Hochschule für bildende Künste, Hamburg
- School of Visual Arts, New York
- Galerie Max Hetzler
Locations
- Hastings
- United Kingdom
- New York
- United States
- Brazil
- Hamburg
- Germany
- Blackpool
- English Channel
- Munich
- São Paulo
- Rio de Janeiro
- Málaga
- Spain
- Copenhagen
- Denmark
- St. Louis
- Reims
- France
- Porto Alegre
- Dublin
- Ireland
- Kasama
- Japan
- Tucson
- Paris
- Sarasota
- Kanazawa
- Normandie
- Belo Horizonte
- Bilbao
- Washington, D.C.
- London
- Madrid
- Cambridge
- Massachusetts
- Stockholm
- Sweden
- Vienna
- Austria
- England