2 February 2023 – 30 April 2023
Hauser & Wirth presents ‘Vertical Vanish,’ an
exhibition of recent paintings by Hungarian-born
artist Rita Ackermann. ‘Vertical Vanish’ opens 2 February,
and will remain on view in the North Gallery of Hauser & Wirth’s Downtown
Los Angeles Arts District complex through 30 April. This is
Ackermann’s first West Coast exhibition with the gallery.
Composed primarily of large-scale oil paintings that
intuitively recast the interplay of line, color and form, ‘Vertical
Vanish’ makes a game of repeated gestures, figures and motifs.
Pre-drawn scenes obscurely emerge from the background, only to disappear into
impasto fields of imbricated color. Through a series of gestural interventions
guided by the artist’s hand – an admixture of drawing, painting and
erasure – oil paints, China markers and acrylics are heavily worked onto
surfaces of canvas or raw linen. The lines constituting Ackermann’s figures are
lost to near total abstraction; thickly applied washes of paint are scraped
away at, giving rise to revelatory compositions. In addition to the larger
works, a selection of small, overpainted monotype prints on paper (all dating
from 2022) will also be on view. These small paintings occupy a middle
distance between the mindful reworking of available materials at hand and the
unveiling of hidden motifs.
In works such as ‘Vertical Vanish’ (2022), the
painting from which the exhibition’s name derives, underlying figures are
overlaid with vivid detonations of color. The materialized afterimage of these
colored saturations acts like a veil which seems to environ the viewer while
falling just shy of articulating any precise narrative. The measured intensity
by which pigments are worked over communicates the purposeful energy of a
spatial calligraphy. Relative to the three erased figures at the foreground of
the canvas, the ascending vertical spiral becomes the centerpiece of the
painting, preserving the harmony of opposing rhythms.
The kind of dynamism Ackermann’s paintings communicate at
least partially derives from the sense of urgency that goes into making them.
Working on a particular picture may very well involve entering into the
uncertain arena of various rescue operations: unforeseeable problems or
intended accidents that the artist has to work around or assimilate. As they
move toward their final composition, Ackermann’s paintings reflect the
perpetual motion of these various survival missions. In this, her layered
surfaces are haloed with the aura of many residual, activating gestures.
– Jeffrey Grunthaner
VAN GOGH IS HER BOY 2022
Acrylic, China Marker and Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 213.4 × 193 cm.
© Rita Ackermann Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
ROYAL EXIT 2022
Acrylic, Oil
and China Marker
Dimensions:
188 × 182.9 cm.
© Rita
Ackermann Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
BLOOD ON THE DANCE FLOOR 2022
Acrylic,
China Marker and Oil on Canvas
Dimensions:
188 × 182.9 cm.
© Rita
Ackermann Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
DESCENDING GOLDEN HOUR 2022
Acrylic,
China Marker and Oil on Canvas
Dimensions:
188 × 182.9 cm.
© Rita
Ackermann Courtesy the Artist and Hauser & Wirth
BLACK DIAMOND BAY 2022
Acrylic, Oil, Pigment and
China Marker on Linen
Dimensions: 193 ×
170.2 cm.
© Rita Ackermann Courtesy
the artist and Hauser & Wirth
VERTICAL
VANISH 2022
Oil and
Acrylic on Canvas
Dimensions:
195.6 × 167.6 cm.
© Rita
Ackermann Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
GOLDEN HOUR 2022
Arcylic,
Oil and China Marker on Canvas
Dimensions:
213.4 × 193 cm.
© Rita
Ackermann Courtesy the Artist and Hauser & Wirth
HEAVY WAVES 2022
Oil on
Monotype Print
Dimensions:
55.9 ×76.2 cm.
© Rita
Ackermann Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
SANDMAN’ S
DUST II 2022
Oil and
Pigment on Unique Monotype Print
Dimensions:
188 × 182.9 cm.
© Rita Ackermann Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
SANDMAN’ S DUST III 2022
Oil on Unique Monotype
Print
Dimensions: 188 ×
182.9 cm.
© Rita Ackermann Courtesy
the artist and Hauser & Wirth
SANDMAN’ S
DUST I 2022
Oil on Unique
Monotype Print
Dimensions:
76.2 × 57.2 ×76.2 cm.
© Rita Ackermann Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
NINE BALL 2022
Acrylic, Oil
and China Marker on Canvas
Dimensions:
193 × 170.2 cm.
© Rita
Ackermann Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
HIDDEN 2022
Acrylic, Oil and China
Marker on Canvas
Dimensions: 193 ×
213.4 cm.
© Rita Ackermann Courtesy
the Artist and Hauser & Wirth
TOUCH DOWN 2022
Oil and
Acrylic on Canvas
Dimensions: 188
× 170.2 cm.
© Rita
Ackermann Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
HOME RUN 2022
Acrylic and
Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 193
× 170.2 cm.
© Rita
Ackermann Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1968, Ackermann currently
lives and works in New York. Ackermann’s practice manifests in paintings and
works on paper that propose a continuous shift between representation and
abstraction. Employing a range of media, including oil and acrylic paint,
pastel, wax pencil and raw pigment, her expression hinges on automatic gestures
and opposing impulses of creation and destruction.
‘Hidden,’ a forthcoming solo exhibition of Ackermann’s work
will open at MASI Lugano, Switzerland on 12 March. Recent solo exhibitions
include: ‘Mama ‘19,’ Hauser & Wirth New York, 22nd Street (2020), ‘Brother
Sister,’ Hauser & Wirth Zurich, Switzerland (2019), ‘Movements as
Monuments,’ La Triennale di Milano, Italy (2018); ‘Turning Air Blue,’ Hauser &
Wirth Somerset, England (2017); ‘KLINE RAPE,’ Hauser & Wirth New York, 22nd
Street (2016); ‘The Aesthetic of Disappearance,’ Malmö Konsthall, Malmo, Sweden
(2016); ‘Chalkboard Paintings,’ Hauser & Wirth Zurich, Switzerland (2015);
‘MEDITATION ON VIOLENCE-HAIR WASH,’ Sammlung Friedrichshof, Burgenland, Austria
and Sammlung Friedrichshof Stadtraum, Vienna, Austria (2014); ‘Negative
Muscle,’ Hauser & Wirth New York, 69th Street (2013); ‘Fire by Days,’
Hauser & Wirth London, Piccadilly (2012); the Museum of Contemporary Art,
Miami FL (2012); ‘Bakos,’ Ludwig Museum, Budapest, Hungary (2011); and ‘Rita
Ackermann and Harmony Korine: ShadowFux,’ Swiss Institute, New York NY (2010)
