Eva Helene Pade: 10 Must-See Shows during Frieze London Søgelys is a top pick for Frieze

By Emily Steer

Rising contemporary artist Eva Helene Pade paints sublime scenes featuring masses of nude figures soaked in golden light. There are murky undercurrents to the work, which will be on view at the artist’s first solo show in the U.K. at Thaddaeus Ropac’s Dover Street space. The Danish artist is interested in the powerful social forces that flow when bodies are in a space together. In her dreamlike oil paintings, she explores the ways in which groups of people impact one another through unconscious movements and physicality, from the malevolent to the seductive. Her canvases are mounted on floor-to-ceiling metal posts away from the walls, impacting how viewers can navigate the works. Set in ambiguous times and locations, Pade’s crowd scenes might call to mind a contemporary nightclub or a historical battle scene.