2016 Catalogue Archive

To make her recent series of paintings, Rita Ackermann first draws out a figurative scene in chalk on a canvas primed with traditional chalkboard paint. She then partially washes away the drawing through a process that erases the original image, while simultaneously generating a new composition made of runny lines of chalk dust, spray paint, and acrylic (followed by a final fixative seal). In Bondage, the female figures disappear into the murky space of the painting, suggesting a psychologically charged scene playing out in the barely-there composition. Ackermann’s work has been included in solo and group exhibitions at museums worldwide.