Kathrin Landa »fragile Helden—fragile heroes«
November 30, 2007 - January 12, 2008
Opening: Friday, November 30, 7pm

The Filipp Rosbach Galerie gallery is especially pleased to present an exhibition with new works by the young Leipzig painter Kathrin Landa. This is her first solo exhibition with the gallery and in Leipzig.

Golden Wounds. The young Leipzig painter Kathrin Landa executes her classical figurative oil painting impressively and precisely, but with a very light touch. The background thereby almost dissolves toward the margins; it consists of broad color fields instead of an illusion of space as reference point. The contours blur, in part as in spontaneous motions. The picture’s composition is all the more precisely focused by the face, and above all by its gaze. This contrast creates an impression that the depicted model is unmoored, a state that the artist calls »thrownness».

The countenance of the models is always serious, motionless, without facial expression. Twenty years ago, Thomas Ruff, who is meanwhile one of the leading German photographic artists, took a famous series of pictures of his fellow students at the Dusseldorf Academy. This may seem to be a similar approach. But with his photo portraits, Thomas Ruff wanted to eliminate his models’ personality. Kathrin Landa’s painting, by contrast, gets under the skin, penetrates to the interior, and shows what is essential. Although they are young, hip, and beautiful, the models do not radiate joy and happiness, but gaze at us uncertainly, skeptically, and enigmatically. Despite all the coolness they use to protect themselves, one sees their insecurity and vulnerability in this gaze. It is the portrayed figures’ gaze that captivates us viewers and, like an undertow, draws us into the interior depths.

In many of these works, a golden background shines through, in small passages or large surfaces. The use of gold color is best known in Art Nouveau and the work of Gustav Klimt. In Kathrin Landa’s works, the radiant opulence and beauty of gold stands in stark contrast to passages of deepest black. This contrast between the bright appearance of beauty and the dark, morbid charm of the transient breaks the expression of pure beauty and reveals deeper wounds. The title of the series, »Golden Wounds«, also reflects this dualism.
—Rita Strautmann

Kathrin Landa [*1980 in Tettnang, Baden-Wuerttemberg] lives and works in Leipzig.
2000–2002 studied painting with Friedemann Hahn at Akademie für bildende Künste Mainz.
2006 diploma with Sighard Gille at the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig;
since 2006 Master Student under Annette Schröter at the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig.

The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday from 11am to 6pm.

Josef Filipp, Michaela Rosbach, and Jörg Rosbach look forward to your visit.
For additional information and privat viewing by appointments, call: [0]172. 373 11 10