Exhibition opening: Saturday, 23 June 2018, 18.15 hrs
On the occasion of the 80th birthday of the artist Rissa, who was born on 22 June 1938 in Rabenstein near Chemnitz, the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz am Theaterplatz is showing a retrospective of her work with 30 paintings from 24 June to 16 September. In her oeuvre, the artist critically reflects fundamental human themes: man and woman, power and counter-power, war, ethics, morals, religion, beauty mania, sexuality and eroticism. Through an extraordinary painting style, her pictures develop an emphatic radicality and radiance.
Rissa spent her childhood and early youth during the war and reconstruction years in her native city Chemnitz. In 1953 the family moved to West Germany, where her mother started working as a drawing teacher in Bochum. Rissa applied to the Düsseldorf Art Academy. There, in 1960, she met the artist K. O. Götz (1914-2017), one of the first radically modern painters at a post-war West German art academy. A professional and private community developed between the two, which lasted until the death of K. O. Götz. An audiovisual double portrait of the two by the artist ATM, which accompanies the Chemnitz exhibition, illustrates the intimate relationship.
However, Rissa differs fundamentally from her companion in the way she depicted them: while K. O. Götz painted with expressive, spontaneous brushstrokes, Rissa prefers clear colour surfaces and tones, which she joins together without contours. The white grounding of the canvas creates a particularly intense coloring. From 1965 until today, the artist consciously created works beyond the pictorial conventions. Her paintings are always characterized by great topicality and a profound examination of the respective present. She was one of the first emancipated professors at the Düsseldorf Art Academy, where she was one of the first female professors, acted as the first equal opportunities commissioner and vice-rector alongside the rector Markus Lüpertz.
Rissa’s paintings are complemented in the exhibition by a documentation of the scholarly work of K. O. Götz and Rissa.
Between 1992 and 2004 numerous works by both artists came into the possession of the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz through several generous donations from K. O. Götz, his wife Rissa and their joint foundation. These include 15 graphics and drawings by Rissa as well as the painting Große Phobie (1981).
The exhibition was created in cooperation with the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and was curated by Prof. Dr. Robert Fleck.
ARTIST TALK
Curator Prof. Dr. Robert Fleck in conversation with the artists Rissa and ATM
Sunday, 24 June 2018, 11 a.m.
GUIDELINES
Saturday, Sunday, public holiday 2 pm
CATALOGUE
EUR 25
EDITION
ATM
Rissa and K. O. Götz, 2017
Hahnemühle FineArt Baryta Satin (museum quality), 18 x 27 cm
signed and numbered by ATM
Edition: 27 copies + 3 artist copies
120 Euro | 50% of the proceeds go to Konrad the art bus
