In Five Bathers, Katya Labowe-Stoll presents five intimate works on paper, each depicting a solitary figure caught in a moment of submersion, drift, or emergence. Drawn in graphite and colored pencil, these bathers appear less as static portraits than as living characters caught mid-breath, mid-thought, mid-current.

Her bathers recall the storied lineage of Cézanne and Matisse, where water becomes a stage for the human form. Yet Labowe-Stoll’s approach departs from the sunlit idylls of her predecessors, leaning instead toward the psychological and the surreal. Figures bend low, cradling something fragile; they float in murky depths ringed by ghostly forms; they fold inward, listening to the body’s private tide. Their surroundings, rendered in whorls, splashes, and drifting particles, blur the line between water and air, skin and reflection.

While rooted in drawing, Labowe-Stoll’s sensibility is informed by a painter’s eye, absorbing influences from the loose figuration and emotive color fields of contemporary artists she admires. Like Yoshitomo Nara and Alberto Giacometti, whose singular styles became instantly recognizable early in their careers, Labowe-Stoll has, at a young age, already carved out a visual language that feels entirely her own: part tender, part unsettling, always unmistakable.

Presented in Basel, just steps from the banks of the Rhine, Five Bathers takes on a site-specific resonance. The river’s history, of crossings, baptisms, and seasonal swims, seeps into the work, connecting these imagined bathers to the living currents outside the gallery walls. Here, water is not only a setting but a state of mind: cleansing, distorting, holding, and releasing.

In bringing these five characters together, Five Bathers becomes both a group portrait and a loose narrative, one in which the viewer is invited to linger, to listen, and perhaps to step closer to the water’s edge.

Five Bathers is a one-day exhibition in Basel, Switzerland. The opening reception will take place on August 14th from 5 to 9 PM and is open to the public. Please RSVP as space is limited.

We invite you to join us at Sabbatikal in Basel, Switzerland, and experience this convergence of art, reflection, and community.

With special thanks to Vero Schmid and Vero’s Kunst & Rahmen for making this possible through their collaboration.

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For inquiries on price and availability please connect with Sacha Cohen either in person or by way of one of the resources provided below:

Tel. +1 (508) 237-9457 | E-mail. on@sabbatikal.com | Website. www.sabbatikal.com