Rita Ackermann
dal 16/9/2012 al 2/11/2012
Segnalato da
16/9/2012
Rita Ackermann
Hauser & Wirth, London
'Fire by Days', a title inspired by French poet Roger Gilbert-Lecomte's 'Vacancy in Glass'; the show presents paintings and works on paper. "I wanted to then duplicate the pure power of the accident and through this image, multiply its freedom" (R. Ackermann)
Hauser & Wirth is proud to present 'Fire by Days', an exhibition of the eponymous
series of paintings and works on paper by New York-based artist, Rita Ackermann.
'Fire by Days', a title inspired by French poet Roger Gilbert-Lecomte's 'Vacancy
in Glass', began as an accidental spill of paint on the artist's studio floor, which
Ackermann mopped up using a Hungarian fire safety poster.
'Vacancy in Glass'
To a palace made
Of wind
To a palace whose towers
Are pillars of fire by day
To an opal palace
In the sky's zenith heart
The bird of pale air
Flies
In a swift white line
On black space
A brushstroke
Signifying absence
Roger Gilbert-Lecomte
(1907 – 1943)
In 'Black Mirror: The Selected
Poems of Roger Gilbert-Lecomte'
'These paintings came to me from,
or as, an accident: suddenly the
forms and shapes of hastily cleaning
up a mess of paint on a surface
suggested something that wasn't a
figure or a face, but rather both, or
abstract. This is how the first 'Fire
by Days' images arose. I had no
intention to make this picture. It was
an accident.'
'As Paul Virilio once said, "Sublimation
of the hunt...the course of painting
imposes a cleared surface, a
sublimation of war". The speed of the
action demanded a pure surface in
which I found the perfect image. To
roll in complete freedom and depth
in the desert; this is far more exciting
than passing through a delimited
course.'
'I wanted to then duplicate the pure
power of the accident and through
this image, multiply its freedom. By
repeating the elements of the raw
creation of a "disaster" and failing to
keep it from unintentional "learned" gestures, I succeeded at arriving at something that
violently pushed itself between figuration and abstraction, pushing through to make itself
completely free. This type of freedom in painting only arrives for mere seconds, or rather
for an immeasurable amount of time, but reveals infinite perspective.'
'In these paintings, the moment –
that immeasurable amount of time
while the artist is allowed to hold
"the foot of God" – produces an
image that carries itself through the
surface, through its depth to open
itself to the next work that will also
attempt to stretch "the moment" of
peace in constant war'.
Rita Ackermann was born in Hungary in 1968. She studied art at the Academy of Fine
Arts in Budapest and at the New York Studio School, New York NY. She currently lives
and works in New York NY. This is her first show with Hauser & Wirth.
Ackermann's work has been shown in numerous international institutions. Recent solo
exhibitions include 'Rita Ackermann', Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami FL (2012);
'Bakos', Múzeum Ludwig, Budapest, Hungary (2011); 'Rita Ackermann and Harmony
Korine: Shadow Fux', Swiss Institute, New York NY (2010); 'Last Exit to Poitiers', Le
Confort Moderne, Poitiers, France (2010); and the travelling exhibition, 'Marfa / Crash',
which opened at The Chinati Foundation, Marfa TX in 2009. Ackermann's group shows
include 'Tableaux', Le Magasin Centre National d'art Contemporain, Grenoble, France
(2011); 'Looking at Music: 3.0', Museum of Modern Art, New York NY; and 'Street and
Studio', Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria (2010). Ackermann's work was also featured in
the 2008 Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York NY.
Opening: Monday 17 September 6 – 8 pm
Hauser & Wirth
196A Piccadilly, London
admission free