2012 Catalogue Archive

Since 2010, Rita Ackermann has been solely invested in her Fire by Days series, which is based on a single composition rendered primarily in red and blue. Typical of her work, this composition has a mysterious figurative element that fades in and out of abstraction to become deeply psychological. Never afraid of a combining a variety of media, Ackermann uses rabbit skin glue, spray paint, and modeling paste in Fire by Days XXIII, adding to the depth and transformative nature of the image. Ackermann was born in Budapest in 1968. She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Budapest, and at The New York School of Painting, Drawing and Sculpture. Ackermann’s solo exhibition was recently on view at MoCA North Miami, and her work was included in the group exhibition Mix / Remix at Luhring Augustine, New York. Other recent solo exhibitions include Bakos at Ludwig Muzeum, Budapest; Shadowfux with Harmony Korine at Swiss Institute, New York; WARFILMS at The Journal Gallery, Brooklyn; Last Exit to Poitiers at Le Confort Moderne, Poitiers; and Marfa/Crash at the Chinati Foundation, Marfa. Ackermann’s work has been included in group exhibitions including Rita Ackermann + Philip Guston at Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York; Tableaux at Le Magasin, Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Grenoble; Looking at Music: 3.0 at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Street and Studio at Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna; and the Whitney Biennial. In 2011, Rizzoli published Ackermann’s self-titled monograph.