Oil on canvas, 80 x 65 cm, Städtische Sammlung Erlangen
In her work, painter Zohar Fraiman focuses intensively on smartphone use and the consequences that social media has on young women's self-confidence in particular. Over the past few years, her figurative painting has developed a very personal, instantly recognizable style. It is reminiscent of art historical movements such as Mannerism and Surrealism, as well as the ubiquitous use of filters and editing tools in digital photography. Different bodies and faces are sometimes blended together, and real stars and actresses meet fictional characters from comics or Disney movies on the canvas.
The painting Slay II (2025) shows a hand with red-painted fingernails holding up a blue hand mirror against a background of blue tiles. The surface of the mirror—theoretically reflecting the viewer—shows the face of actress Margot Robbie merged with the head of Judy Jetson, a character from the US animated series The Jetsons. With the motif of the mirror, the artist alludes in particular to current beauty trends and the tendency to manipulate one's own face with filters on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, or Tinder. The fused faces, which share an eye in the middle, evoke a certain unease despite the makeup and perfectly styled hair. Beneath the glamorous surface, an abyss seems to lurk: perfectionism, fear of aging, obsession with beauty standards. These are feelings that are also addressed in Coralie Fargeat's body horror film The Substance, which made massive waves when it was released in theaters in the same year that Fraiman's painting was created.
What Zohar Fraiman sums up in her works: The cell phone in our pockets is no longer just a means of communication, but an instrument for self-reflection. The extent to which the distortions of this mirror also lead to social upheaval is not yet entirely clear. What is certain, however, is that social media is here to stay for the time being.
The work was donated by the artist to the Städtische Sammlung Erlangen.
Malte Lin-Kröger
