BIO
Sherah Rosen (b. 1982-Washington DC) grew up in Baltimore Maryland, and lives in Savannah, Georgia. The artist holds a B.F.A. in painting from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a M.F.A. in painting from Savannah College of Art & Design (2024). She has wanted to be a painter since she was a small child, and credits growing up amongst a family of artists and art collectors as early inspiration. Rosen was particularly taken with the synthetic cubism of Pablo Picasso as a kid. As a teenager she loved art critic Harold Rosenberg’s term “the action painters” the critic defined the canvas not as a surface for a picture, but as “an arena in which to act”. She also enjoys literature and playing billiards.
ARTIST STATEMENT
This body of artwork present contemporary renditions, of our 21st century search for the sublime. My work showcases the historical movement’s dramatic style, that is linked to 18th-century German Idealism. The paintings meditate on the themes of sex, seduction and gender, and that which is other worldly, alongside the famous aesthetic of the sublime, which is the beautiful and the grotesque.
This body of work features hyper-sexualized, scantily clothed or nude figures of varying gender identities. I suggest that seduction is similar to the postmodern sublime because it entices one to follow a path of beauty, but can also lead an individual astray, to something that is destructive and ineffective.
The artist technique is oftentimes rough with angst-driven, feral brushworks. The paintings are overwhelmingly painterly, tactile, and expressive.
My theory is that the sublime does not coincide well with Postmodernity, and is ultimately unattainable, at best it is found in that of prescribed shallow spectacles. This actually leaves us feeling very lonely, and represents well the isolated nature of the 21st century human condition.
Disillusion solo show
Instagram
Contact Email: sherahrosen@gmail.com