Photography: All works courtesy the artist, Karma International, Zurich and Jan Kaps, Cologne Fotos / Photos: Gina Folly
Note: Interview with Emanuel Rossetti by Melanie Ohnemus is available here
In his work, Emanuel Rossetti (born 1987 in Basel, lives and works in Basel) explores the relationship between questions of space and the ways images are received. For his photographs, objects and sound projects, the artist uses architectural struc tures and landscapes, analyzing them by means of photographic and installation-based processes in which the principle of composition plays a key role. His landscape photographs, usually in series, are made at locations on the urban periphery or in the countryside. On walks, he takes pictures that criticize the antithesis between town and country, developing new compositions to abolish this dis tinction.
For Stimmung, Rossetti developed series of large-format photographs taken in different places over a period of two years. The pictures were shot with a fish-eye lens, rendering the landscape as a circular image surrounded by black. The edges of the image are distorted, underlining a certain complexity that is also emphasized by the serial composition, causing Rossetti’s expanded concept of landscape to appear as an interface between multiple spaces.
In another series, Rossetti works with stereos copy, a sidetrack in the history of photography. When looking at the objects made using this technique, viewers can observe their own sense of spatial perception at work, as they see two images at once.
In German, the word Stimmung has several mean ings. It can be a subjective mood, or the atmosphere in a landscape. There is a liminal quality here, as the dividing line between inner perception and what is seen remains unclear, the two merging into one another. At the same time, Stimmung also refers to the tuning of sounds.
On 10 & 11 May, in an event realized jointly with Stefan Tcherepnin, with whom Rossetti runs the Staged Worlds project, a public rehearsal in the exhibition space, in which all are invited to partici pate, will be followed by a performance.
Emanuel Rossetti studied at Zurich University of Arts, Zurich.
Selected solo exhibitions: Sgomento, Zürich, 2024; Bellelay Abbey, Bellelay, 2022 (with Staged Worlds); Jan Kaps, Cologne, 2021; Pina, Vienna, 2019; Jan Kaps, Mexico City, 2018; Sundogs, Paris, 2018; Istituto Svizzero, Milan, 2017 (with Seob Kim); Svetlana Gallery, New York, 2017; Karma International, Zürich, 2016; Marbriers 4, Geneva, 2016 (with Timothée Calame); Kunsthalle Bern, Bern, 2014; The Power Station, Dallas, 2013 (with Tobias Madison and Stefan Tcherepnin); Burning Bridges, New York, 2010 (with Balthazar Lovay). Involvement in various collaborative projects, including the organization and programming of Basel exhibition space New Jerseyy (2008–2013) and the organization of the cinema and exhibition space APNews in Zürich (2011–2013).
The exhibition will be accompanied by an inter view pamphlet with a text by Emanuel Rossetti and Melanie Ohnemus.