Maria Roosen
Met
Galerie Fons Welters - Back Space
28 May – 17 Jul 2004
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What do Mikhail Gorbachow, Bettine Vriesekoop, a comet that returns every twenty years, and a ten thousand years old, well-preserved corpse have in common? Together with many other ‘victors’ they belong to a collection of pictures that Maria Roosen brought together during a period of two decades. And this is only one of the works that can be seen in the new exhibition of Maria Roosen, Met (‘with’). This second solo exhibition with Fons Welters, shows a side of her work that lies somewhere outside the line of expectation.
Roosen’s previous solo exhibition in Fons Welters dates back from 1996, Jeuk (itch). This show included, amongst others, the hand-blown glass breasts and milk jugs, which confronted the spectator with his/her body in an enticing way. With this work Roosen gained international recognition – the organic, liquid-like glass shapes almost became her trademark. The only traces of this in the new exhibition are Jean, Pierre and Claude, three (handblown) cocks on a wire.
The last couple of years Roosen created a lot of work in public space, like the watertower with a red wig in he Beaufort Triënnial, the bowls of glass in the garden of Boijmans van Beuningen and her work in the former mental hospital in the Gelderse bos. In these works, she examined the surroundings and left traces of her personal interpretation.
In the exhibition Met, Roosen goes back to her roots, the source. For her, this process always begins with the creation of watercolours. Through these watercolours she examines her surroundings and tries to load them with meaning. Eventually, this process can evolve in the use of several other techniques and materials. Roosen experiences this development as a long and personal process, one that can be compared with that of a ‘victor’. ‘You live towards a moment, something that you have longed for. If you are on the right track, you arise above time. This meditative movement eventually brings you to the finish and the victory.’ The result of this, but also the evolvement of this process can be seen in her new exhibition.
Met shows more clearly than before the identifications that make up the basics of her artistic practice. When asked what all these works have in common, she triumphantly replies: ‘This is me’.
[Yvonne Boekhout]