PRESENTATION: Roni Horn-An Elusive Red Figure…, Part II
Roni Horn explores the mutable nature of art through sculptures, works on paper, photography, and books. She describes drawing as the key activity in all her work, her drawings concentrate on the materiality of the objects depicted. She also uses words as the basis for drawings and other works. Horn crafts complex relationships between the viewer and her work by installing a single piece on opposing walls, in adjoining rooms, or throughout a series of buildings (Part I).
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Hauser & Wirth Gallery Archive
Roni Horn continues her exploration of identity and difference with the exhibition “An Elusive Red Figure…”, she presents a new work titled: “An elusive Red Figure darting about in the Venetian darkness; a red dwarf burning out beyond Saturn; a nasty gang of runts in red snowsuits acting out in a North American suburb; an attractive young Italian woman dressed in red is stalked by a lesbian serial killer; a village girl, the prettiest you can imagine, in a red velvet hood cut from the belly of a sleeping wolf…” The series “An Elusive Red Figure…” is a suite of 33 paired ink jet prints, is a collection of outtakes from her solo exhibition “LOG” as well as original drawings, including quotations, collages, photographs, casual commentaries, notes on news and weather events and original texts. Drawing has been a defining element of Horn’s artistic practice since the 1980s and “An Elusive Red Figure…” is emblematic of Horn’s relationship with the medium, which she has described as ‘a kind of breathing activity on a daily level.’ Whilst creating the drawings on paper that would become the paired ink jet prints for the exhibition Horn would describe the events of weather, private life and anything notable that came to mind or hand at the time. One set of prints notes the temperature during a trip that the artist took to Zurich in July in 2019, others feature photographs of the artist, or cultural figures such as Aretha Franklin or Elizabeth Taylor, pasted alongside drawings or notations. Another page, colored bright yellow is inscribed with the line “I am paralyzed with hope” from a monologue by the stand-up comedian Maria Bamford, which Horn describes as “a poignant connection to our time with regards to politics and the environment and now, of course, in relation to the pandemic”.
Photo: Roni Horn, from the series “An Elusive Red Figure…”, 2022, Two ink jet prints on rag paper. Bleed images, floated edge-to-edge in frame. Edition of 12, Each piece, 13.7 x 10.6” / 34.8 x 53.8 cm, Frame size: 15.75 x 23.25 x 1.18” / 40 x 59.3 x 3 cm, Photo: Tom Powel Imaging, © Roni Horn, Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth Gallery
Also, detail from: “An elusive Red Figure darting about in the Venetian darkness; a red dwarf burning out beyond Saturn; a nasty gang of runts in red snowsuits acting out in a North American suburb; an attractive young Italian woman dressed in red is stalked by a lesbian serial killer; a village girl, the prettiest you can imagine, in a red velvet hood cut from the belly of a sleeping wolf…”, 2022
Info: Hauser & Wirth Gallery, Limmatstrasse, Zürich, Switzerland, Duration: 9/6-15/9/2023, Days & Hours: Tue-Fri 11:00-18:00, Sat 11:00-17:00, www.hauserwirth.com/
