ROSA

In the exhibition ROSA, the artists Sabrina Fritsch and Rosilene Luduvico team up for a temporary project in the Philara Collection; and they explore both the significance of a colour as well as the “legend of a woman who never existed.” 1

ROSA is a linguistic and visual hybrid. It is also an etymological fusion of the initial letters of the artists’ names, Rosilene and Sabrina, as well as a critical exploration of a colour and its symbolism.
The abstract works by Sabrina Fritsch alternate between a dominant structure, concrete application of colour and dispersive colour layers. The canvas format often serves in this process as a frame for further elaboration on a logarithm in the picture composition. The picture surface is subdivided into segments with transitional sections where the canvas material or transparent colour layers are visibly exposed by sandpapering or by being unfinished. The dualism of the colour application between presence and absence simultaneously evokes access and inaccessibility.

In contrast, the works by Rosilene Luduvico are based on sweeping flows (Schwüngen), floral shapes and gentle lines / strokes in pastel colours. It is a pleasure to follow the playfulness of her delicate flowing style. In Credi and Chichia, Luduvico evokes Sunday feelings: the rustling of treetops, the wind in one’s hair and becoming aware of seconds. Her graceful portraits such as Seine erste Reise sensitively focus on the human face. With painterly caresses she captures the aura of a person or a moment.

The positions of Luduvico and Fritsch meet dialectically as a presumed artistic complement. The works by Fritsch and Luduvico are hung in pairs and juxtaposed. In particular, however, due to their formal difference they establish a reciprocal relationship that makes possible a new connotation for both works. The characteristic traits of an artistic position are therefore emphasized in the respective other. Suddenly, the geometric forms of Luduvico’s works as well as the endearing aspects of Fritsch’s compositions become more accentuated – this pairing is anticipated as a duel and appears as a duet.

This final fusing together is heightened in ROSA, a collaborative wall mural, which was realized in the exhibition room of the Philara Collection. Smooth strokes in toned-down primary colours, which move, dancing, across the wall, have radical black grid patterns superimposed on them.

ROSA is the woman of many nuances. The curatorial dualism is methodically transferred here into the picture, thus culminating in synthesis. ROSA is equally coherent and graceful, both present and absent. ROSA is no prototype.
Not pink, but a transformative figure who can be many individuals in one person.

1 Bachmann, Ingeborg: Malina, translated by Philip Boehm, New York 1990.