Paintings

2021 – 2023 Miss P. Series

Irony and Humor – Miss P. Series
The series unveils the ironic side of modern femininity through the character of Miss P., a symbol of the woman under social pressure. The works titled “Trapeze” and “Bridge” critique political and cultural narratives with dark humor and a powerful visual world.

Miss P. Is So Enjoying Brexit (Trapeze) (2021)
A cadaver-like white woman hanging upside down on the trapeze, with a grotesque smile, symbolizes the “troubled country” due to Brexit. The artwork is both ironic and unsettling, offering a strong social commentary on the helplessness felt over modern political discourses.

Miss P.  Is Doing Great (The Bridge) (2022)

“The Bridge” presents the absurdity of modern life and the societal pressure on women. With a distinctive ironic style, it reveals the stark contrast between societal expectations and reality.

Miss P. Joyfully Unveils the Naked Truth (2022) – Modern Venus II Painting and Performance

A female figure undergoing plastic surgery rests comfortably under a green medical sheet with an open belly, as if she is enjoying the procedure. The piece comments on the commodification of beauty and urges the viewer to question modern cultural norms.

The inspiration behind this piece came from a fitting that took place in Adele Frank’s salon. The client arrived covered in bandages after her liposuction surgery, excitedly announcing that – thanks to the procedure – she would soon be able to fit into the desired dress. However, as she changed into the dress, blood began to seep through her fresh bandages.

Painting-Dress-Jewelry Paraphrase  (2014 – Today)

Adele Frank’s art creates a unique symbiosis between fashion and fine art, where refined couture elegance is translated into contemporary, conceptual forms. Her paintings and garment creations engage in a close visual and technical dialogue, particularly through her distinctive crumpled sewing technique that generates three-dimensional, textured surfaces. The technique was inspired by the 19^th century bustle dresses. These 3D textures allow figurative representations in her paintings to emerge from the canvas. The garments also employ this crumpled sewing technique, creating a paraphrase-like visual parallel where fashion and painting reflect upon each other, blurring the boundary between two dimensions.

Adele Frank’s artistic creations extend beyond clothing and paintings. Accessories made from painter’s canvas, metal, and pearls are intricately tied to the motifs found in her garments, creating a cohesive unity where their wearers also become integral part of the artwork.

Central to Adele Frank’s artistry are questions surrounding female identity, often reflecting on the societal and political contexts of beauty. Her work delicately balances aesthetic timelessness with modern provocation, seeking dialogues between classical and contemporary expressions of femininity, thus offering new perspectives on the relationship between female identity and power.

Painting-Dress Paraphrase II. (2022)

The piece depicts a painted silk dress, designed with a focus on expressing the relationship between the body and the material. The motifs on the dress are rendered in vibrant colors, while the same pattern and form are visible in the accompanying painting, visually linking the two mediums. A necklace made of Tahitian pearl and silver adorns the neckline of the dress. The piece serves as a visual paraphrase of the fusion of free, fluid movement and form, based on the dialogue between the oil painting and the dress.

2019

Transvestite Diva on the Runway (2019)

The piece explores the boundaries of identity and gender. The designer featured drag queens in several fashion shows, feeling that their extreme femininity perfectly suited the presentation of her clothing collections. The painting was created after a photo of said runways appeared in a magazine.

2017

Introducing Mary Bride (2017, 2018) – Painting – Book CoverTwo paintings portraying the protagonist of the artist’s first novel, Mary Bride. The novel is filled with mysteries and follows the tradition of classic English detective fiction.

Flags (2018-2019)

Examines the symbolism of national identity and the tensions arising from it. These works resonate particularly in today’s global socio-political climate, where national symbols act as both cohesive forces and divisive elements.

Modern Venus IV (2007-2008)

Modern Venus IV’ combines timeless beauty with modern abstraction, emphasizing both the fragility and strength of femininity. It aims to highlight the ever-changing nature of beauty and power. Venus is not depicted as a static symbol, but as a continuously evolving narrative and with it reflects today’s cultural and aesthetic shifts. The inspirations behind the painting were the Venus of Milo, the Statue of Liberty, and the Declaration of Independence.

Modern Venus III (2008)

The artist depicts Botticelli’s Venus now behind iron bars. Continuing the exploration of her character, Adele Frank’s “Modern Venus III” examines the relationship between women and power.

Modern Venus I – Keep the shape (2007)

In 2007, the artist participated in the Pret-a-Porter Paris exhibition, where in addition to her collection, she displayed the extravagant oil-textile-inflatable sex doll metal-paper sculpture installation titled “Modern Venus – Keep the Shape,” which conveyed political and social critique.

Metal Venus I-II. (2007)

The Metal Venus I and II series are connected to the Modern Venus (Keep the shape) sculpture installation.

Power is our Pride (2007)

Power is our Pride examines the nature of power, highlighting how it can transform into both pride and tyranny. This painting critiques power structures on both national and international levels, emphasizing that possessing power is both a responsibility and a temptation, showing how individuals can become corrupt when they misuse it.

New Age (2007)

The composition visually draws attention to the alienation of human relationships in the light of the energy and promises of the new era. This work seeks balance between the natural world and the digital age, where people are both participants in progress and victims of social disconnection. The shattered cross symbolizes the values that seem to be lost with the advance of technology.

– Queen d8: August 6, 1945, 08:15: The American Enola Gay aircraft drops the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The bomb was named “Little Boy.”

– Rook e8: December 1937: 300,000 people were slaughtered and 20,000 women were raped by the Japanese during their invasion of Nanking, China.

– King g8: This star was worn by Jews under the Nazi regime.

– Rook a7: 1940: On Stalin’s orders, the NKVD murdered 21,800 Polish officers and civilians in Katyn. The massacre was denied by the Russians and attributed to the Germans.

– Pawn f7: April 22, 1915, World War I: The first use of poison gas occurred in Ypres, Belgium. The Germans placed 170 tons of chlorine gas in canisters on the front line. Posion gas became a widespread chemical weapon afterwards.

– Pawn g7: Sarajevo, 1993: In Europe’s bloody war of our time, the ethnic groups that once formed a single state slaughtered each other. One of the war’s mementos is the Sarajevo Olympic Stadium, which functioned as a cemetery.

– Pawn h7: The average age of American soldiers killed in Vietnam was 19.

– Bishop b6: Sudan-Darfur: Since 2003, armed militias have been killing civilians – estimates suggest 400,000 have died, with the massacre resembling the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

– Pawn d5: Osama Bin Laden initiated his war in the name of Islam.

– Bishop h5: Iraq: The USA admitted that no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq.

Restricted Area Self-Portrait (2006)

In 1949, 22-year-old model-actress Marilyn Monroe was paid $50 to pose nude for a Los Angeles photographer against a red velvet backdrop. This image later became the most famous calendar photograph in history and the main attraction of the first Playboy magazine issue. Based on the original image, Adele Frank created a new version featuring herself titled “Restricted Area.”

The painting “Restricted Area” by Adele Frank is a protest against the commodification of the female body. The painting is a reinterpretation of Marilyn Monroe’s famous calendar photo, but while Monroe’s image emphasized the market value of sexuality, Adele Frank’s work stands as its counterpoint. The artist presents her own body as the restricted area, marked off with yellow tape, inaccessible to consumer society. “Restricted Area” is an ironic reference to the historical exploitation of the female body, while also a powerful personal statement against the idea that the female body is free for exploitation.