Rita Ackermann “Meditation on Violence” opening, Burgenland

Rita Ackermann’s massive and refined paintings for her exhibition at Sammlung Friedrichshof, presented in close dialog with Austrias largest collection of 1960es works by the Vienna Actionists, provoke an eternally tranquil yet subversively violent effect. Upon closer inspection one finds the remains of figurative drawings, possibly violent and sexual explicit scenes, that repetitively appear, then disappear in the trace of white wash chalk dust. These drawings and gestures oscillate between the visible and invisible only to reveal limited emphases on method, subject, and production. If there is a purpose to these large chalkboard paintings and the process that creates them, it is to facilitate an intuitive emotional intelligence that is not founded solely on intellect. Standing as a monument for movement as opposed to any narrative story or lecture, the works are content to be unseen by means of erasure and negation. The artist talks about a Aesthetics of Disapperance. Text Hubert Klocker and photo Sophie Thun