Julia Rommel at STANDARD (OSLO)

Artist: Julia Rommel

Exhibition title: Just a Splash

Venue: STANDARD (OSLO), Oslo, Norway

Date: October 7 – November 5, 2021

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and STANDARD (OSLO)

STANDARD (OSLO) is pleased to present our second solo exhibition of Julia Rommel, aptly titled “Just a Splash”.

This exhibition is Rommel’s conscientious determination to hold back. After ten years of stretching, painting, unstretching-repeat ad nauseam. She, much like the rest of the world in the past few years, is questioning, experimenting and re-prioritizing her own way of working. It just so happens that this distinguishing shift harkens back to where it all started–the (semi) monochrome.

The inherent materiality of painting is still at the forefront of the process and the final work. But instead of indulging every trick in the artist’s book to build an intricate and convincing composition, Rommel is challenging herself to do less. As with breaking any habit, this has been a painstaking, non-linear process. New parameters had to be introduced so she didn’t fall back into old familiar patterns, a recognizable life lesson we know all too well. For Rommel, this breakthrough came with the introduction of unfamiliar conventions of sculpture–using wooden plinths as a starting point in her process. Leaving the confines of capital “P”-ainting and her own arbitrary rules, this deviation allowed her freedom and reintroduction of accidents. The process reinvigorated the adventure and the journey of making while simultaneously employing another hard learned strategy–leave well enough alone.

This resolve manifests itself in fairly diverse aesthetic directions. Rommel speaks of the importance of each painting living into its own answers. What one canvas needs will be entirely different from another. By parsing out the painterly vocabulary amongst the group of works we are greeted with a pleasant surprise: this skillful reticence reveals a heightened sense of individualism. More than ever before, each painting is asserting an audacity to stand and be considered all on its own. And while the individuality is paramount, the works reveal themselves even more deeply when seen in context of the others. Superficially contrasting works allow for playful juxtapositions in the show’s installation. As the relationships between paintings reveal subtle connections, the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.

Julia Rommel (b. 1980, Salisbury, Maryland) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. “Just a Splash” marks her second solo exhibition at STANDARD (OSLO), following “Fall Guy” in 2019 and a two-person exhibition with Mathew Cerletty in 2017 titled “Stay-at-Home Dad”. Recent solo exhibitions include “Uncle”, Bureau, New York, “Two Italians, Six Lifeguards”, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefeld, Connecticut; “Candy Jail”, Bureau, New York; “Twin Bed”, Bureau at Tanya Leighton; “A Cheesecake With Your Name On It”, Overduin & Co. Recent group exhibitions include Whitechapel Gallery, London, Flag Art Foundation, New York, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee. Her works are included in the collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Museum of Modern Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.

Julia Rommel, Just a Splash, 2022, exhibition view, STANDARD (OSLO), Photography: Lea Stuedahl

Julia Rommel, Further Proof, 2022, Oil on linen / Wooden stretcher, 146.1 x 121.9 cm / 57 1/2 x 48 in. Photography: Lance Brewer

Julia Rommel, May December, 2022, Oil on linen / Wooden stretcher, 149.9 x 113 cm / 59 x 44 1/2 in. Photography: Lance Brewer

Julia Rommel, Night School, 2022, Oil on linen / Wooden stretcher, 185.7 x 154.6 cm / 73 1/8 x 60 7/8 in. Photography: Lance Brewer

Julia Rommel, Ice Storm, 2022, Oil on linen / Wooden stretcher, 198.1 x 237.5 cm / 78 x 93 1/2 in. Photography: Lance Brewer

Julia Rommel, Sea Wall, 2022, Oil on linen / Wooden stretcher, 38.1 x 30.5 cm / 15 x 12 in. Photography: Lance Brewer

Julia Rommel, Robert and Linda, 2022, Oil on linen / Wooden stretcher, 45.7 x 43.2 cm / 18 x 17 in. Photography: Lance Brewer

Julia Rommel, Bath Time, 2022, Oil on linen / Wooden stretcher, 152.4 x 124.5 cm / 60 x 49 in. Photography: Lance Brewer

Julia Rommel, Debutante, 2022, Oil on linen / Wooden stretcher, 193 x 185.4 cm / 76 x 73 in. Photography: Lance Brewer

Julia Rommel, Three Notes, 2022, Oil on linen / Wooden stretcher, 149.9 x 113 cm / 59 x 44 1/2 in. Photography: Lance Brewer

Julia Rommel, Untitled (Gowanus 5/29/22), 2022, Coloured pencil and graphite on vellum, 30.5 x 22.9 cm / 12 x 9 in. Photography: Lance Brewer

Julia Rommel, Dad’s Handwriting, 2022, Oil on linen / Wooden stretcher, 103.5 x 101.6 cm / 40 3/4 x 40 in. Photography: Lance Brewer

Julia Rommel, Big Time, 2022, Oil on linen / Wooden stretcher, 196.8 x 196.8 cm / 77 1/2 x 77 1/2 in. Photography: Lance Brewer

Julia Rommel, Whale Shark, 2022, Oil on linen / Wooden stretcher, 217.2 x 141 cm / 85 1/2 x 55 1/2 in. Photography: Lance Brewer

Julia Rommel, Carroll Street, 2022, Oil on linen / Wooden stretcher, 175.9 x 175.9 cm / 69 1/4 x 69 1/4 in. Photography: Lance Brewer

Julia Rommel, Mercy, 2022, Oil on linen / Wooden stretcher, 142.2 x 144.8 cm / 56 x 57 in. Photography: Lance Brewer

Julia Rommel, Untitled (Seawall 8/5/22), 2022, Coloured pencil on vellum, 30.5 x 22.9 cm / 12 x 9 in. Photography: Lance Brewer

Julia Rommel, Untitled (Seawall 8/2/22), 2022, Coloured pencil on vellum, 30.5 x 22.9 cm / 12 x 9 in. Photography: Lance Brewer