Rachel Rose | ARTPIL

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Rachel Rose

Oct 25, 2019 – Jan 12, 2020

Fridericianum / Kassel, Germany

Rachel Rose: Autoscopic Egg, 2017, © Rachel Rose, Courtesy of the artist und / and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York / Rome, Foto / Photo: Lance Brewer

In Rachel Rose’s first large-scale solo exhibition in Germany, the artist (born New York, 1986) will present a selection of her video installations and a new series of sculptures at the Fridericianum in Kassel.

In recent years, Rose has quickly risen to prominence for her compelling video installations and films. This selective overview of Rose’s practice, which focuses on moving images, is comprised of five works: Sitting Feeding Sleeping (2013), Everything and More (2015), Lake Valley (2016), Autoscopic Egg (2017), and Wil-o-Wisp (2018). Complemented by a group of new sculptures, this makes the exhibition at the Fridericianum the largest presentation of the artist’s work to date.

Rachel Rose: Autoscopic Egg, 2017, © Rachel Rose, Courtesy of the artist und / and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York / Rome, Foto / Photo: Lance Brewer

Rachel Rose: Everything and More, 2015, Still, © Rachel Rose, Courtesy of the artist, Pilar Corrias Gallery, London und / and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York / Rome

Not only characteristic of Rose’s approach to art making, these works can be seen as individualized responses to subject matter particular to her interests. While these differ in each, she often explores how our relationship to landscape, storytelling, and belief systems are inseparably linked to one another. From supernaturalism in the modern era in Wil-o-Wisp to possible futures put forward by contemporary sciences in Sitting Feeding Sleeping, the artist reveals commonalities toward concepts of mortality. Meanwhile, works such as Lake Valley and Everything and More imagine alternate sensory experiences – from abandonment in children’s stories to zero gravity in outer space – that contribute to our understanding of what it means to be human. As such, this exhibition traces how Rose visualizes fundamentally existential concerns, using the past to address how present conditions shape our conceptions of impermanence.

Rachel Rose: Wil-o-Wisp, 2018, Still, © Rachel Rose, Courtesy of the artist, Pilar Corrias Gallery, London und / and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York / Rome

Rachel Rose: Sitting Feeding Sleeping, 2013, Still, © Rachel Rose, Courtesy of the artist, Pilar Corrias Gallery, London und / and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York / Rome

Rachel Rose: Sitting Feeding Sleeping, 2013, Still, © Rachel Rose, Courtesy of the artist, Pilar Corrias Gallery, London und / and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York / Rom

Rose uses a wide range of filmic techniques to realize her work. From collaging footage to, most recently, narrative filmmaking, she draws from and contributes to a long history of cinematic innovation. Yet, irrespective of these different approaches, the artist has developed a consistent method of projection and installation to immerse and affect the viewer’s physical and psychological experience of moving image and sound.

Rachel Rose (main) Sitting Feeding Sleeping, 2013, Still (detail), © Rachel Rose, Courtesy of the artist, Pilar Corrias Gallery, London und / and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York / Rome

Rachel Rose: Everything and More, 2015, Still, © Rachel Rose, Courtesy of the artist, Pilar Corrias Gallery, London und / and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York / Rome

Rachel Rose: Wil-o-Wisp, 2018, Still, © Rachel Rose, Courtesy of the artist, Pilar Corrias Gallery, London und / and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York / Rome

Alongside her moving image works, a new series of sculptural objects made from glass and various minerals will be shown at the Fridericianum. These originate from the egg form, which often appears in Rose’s work; most recently as physical manifestations featured in Autoscopic Egg and the glass-blown lenses Optical Eggs (2018–19) that accompany the video installation of Wil-o-Wisp. From the collectively titled series Born (2019–), nine specially produced pieces will be displayed in a separate oval-shaped room designed specifically for this exhibition. While the symbol of the egg is typically regarded as a sign of fertility, reproduction, and transformation, these sculptures nevertheless encapsulate Rose’s working methodology since they are derived from and connect to several key aspects of her recent practice, namely the history of glass, topography, and the collaging of materials – subjects and techniques she often revisits.