| ...another
member of this generation is Gabriella Gerosa, born 1964. She
is currently showing her “video speaking pictures”
at the Art Space Kunst-Raum Riehen. Her works’ colorfulness,
their dreamlike narrative, the pervasive flower motive as well
as the mysterious singsong of female voices initially reverberate
the aesthetics of artists like Pipilotti Rist. While Rist’s
lens is persistently on the heels of things, the camera remains
still with Gerosa: the items themselves move in the image as
if on stage. In the four-part video installation “the suicide’s pets” we peer for example from inside a bird’s cage or an aquarium into a homely interior where the occupants as well as a dog appear eerily bored. Then again we spy the most devoted of pets from the ceiling through a crucifix, or we observe the mysterious life of a lily alongside a resting hand. Like a painter, Gerosa creates compositions that only develop over time, not in the instant as with Rist. While Rist always displays a lot of activity, Gerosa mostly has us sensing that something is just about to happen. This is painting with a camera at its truest … NZZ Feuilleton, Samuel Herzog March 16, 2002 The artist Gabriella Gerosa has long been working with video and holds a very special place in the Swiss Art Scene. Her films are notable for their poetic flow of images which - albeit in a backhanded manner - display some social criticism. The House Behind the Poplars is the latest work by Gabriella Gerosa, an oeuvre of seven pieces. The title is programmatic: the entire story unfolds around these poplars. They were planted to shield a stormy patch. Meanwhile, the "Apple Blossom Garden" mentioned in the subtitle flourishes. However, the taller the trees grow, the more shade is cast over the village, and this not just literally. The work resembles a tryptichon. The middle panel displays an apparatus for juicing apples, while the wings show people engaged in various activities. The structure is reminiscent of a wing altar or allegorical image on the topic of labor. Gabriella Gerosa makes precise use of details, which only reveal themselves to the viewer over time. So for example the landscape. It could be anywhere in the Swiss Mittelland region, in the Alsace or even in Poland. Through this interchangeability, the landscape turns into a topos rather than a fixed point. Such also the faces of the people which have been filmed with a high speed camera, so their changes in facial expression and certain movements appear to fall in step with the changing landscape. In her work "The Buffet" from the cycle "The Celebration" we see an abundantly set table, laden with various dishes as well as flowers, slowly swaying in the wind - until the entire scene is disturbed by a falling chandelier. And although he previously shown still life is dissolved by the fall, we do not feel entirely dismayed. Also in the House Behind the Poplars, the idyllic scene remains somewhat deceitfulouse behind the Poplars : a circumstance that can only be observed in few sequences. We see a silent agreement being made among the villagers, and in the act of common apple juice production lies a sublime potential of aggression. This is heightened by the implicit structure of a fairy tale or fable which is often inherent to the cycles. They could always begin with "once upon a time."while their ending remains unclear. Only the existence of a more or less visible final motive is guaranteed. In her works, Gabriella Gerosa addresses fundamental questions of life. She produces them in a touching manner, fully aware that the answers will not be given. Simon Baur, Kunstbulletin Portrait of the artist Gabriella Gerosa Video works Painting with the camera Gabriella Gerosa's artistic materials are people, animals and plants which enter into romantic alliances and are arranged in stills or images of interiors. However, existential topics such as life and death are hidden beneath the emotionally charged surface. The artist confronts the viewer with fully composed images, of which some are hanging on the wall in frames. Topically and formally, she relates to old masters such as Jan Vermeer van Delft or Rembrandt. In stark contrast however, she uses the media of video. Completely ignoring the intrinsic qualities of video, she omits the portrayal of actions or temporal stories. Typically, video images constantly change - hers, however, at first glance appear to be still. Only over time do you notice that details are moving and changing. In this way, our attention is drawn to minor details and the usual hierarchy of an image is reversed. Flowers become main actors, humans mere props. Gabriella Gerosa contrasts our daily overstimulation with a poetry of slowness - a relieving pause in our fast-paced daily life. David Richardt Swiss Exhibitions Lobster with Whiplash Nobody expected this. Not those who gathered around the sumptuous dinner table for a celebration. And also not those of us who know Gabriella Gerosa's work of the last years. Up until now, her films - video images often composed in a manner reminiscent of paintings by the old masters - have been distinctive in their latency: mostly the artist merely lets us suspect that something must have just happened, something outrageous, haunting, incredible, or that it is just about to happen. However, in the largest work that Gerosa is currently showing in the Kunstraum Aarau, the unexpected blasts into the middle of the harmonious. Without warning, a chandelier shatters onto the festive table. Pieces of broken glass, splashes, an exploding champagne bottle, and lobster with whiplash. After a couple of seconds it is all over. Miraculously, the champagne glass has survived the explosion unharmed: small bubbles peacefully rise to the surface. The big crash is part of the video cycle with the title "The Celebration", which Gerosa has been working on for some time. Further works from this series are shown in Aarau. In the same room as the precarious meal we see the face of a young woman: she is staring at us - apparently unaffected - from the crystalline LCD ocean screen. Suddenly her mouth opens in a silent scream. The connection to the chandelier disaster is obvious, but is established more in our imagination than in the sequence of the images. Also in other scenes, the Basel video artist concentrates the stories in a short moment: when a domestic help hands her boss a mocha or wipes up some pieces from a domestic mishap - it is always in our imagination that we expand the miniature to a story, a novel, an opera. Just one thing is always clear: under no circumstances will the party be celebrated without disruption. Gabriella Gerosa - Celebrate. Art space Aarau. Through December 13. Samuel Herzog, Neue Zürcher Zeitung |
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