Rita Ackermann: Vivre Sa Vie

Ackermann’s practice is rooted in improvisation, disruption and formal negation. Although her works often revisit recurring motifs and structures, they resist straightforward repetition or narrative development. Her approach has been shaped in part by her engagement with cinema, particularly the films of Jean-Luc Godard, as well as the writings of Paul Virilio, whose ideas around perception, speed, fragmentation and montage have informed her understanding of the image.

In her paintings, visual phenomena are present not only in the imagery but also in the structure of the works themselves. Figures and forms appear fragmented, obscured or suspended, creating a sense of instability in which images seem to emerge and disappear simultaneously. Rather than unfolding as a conventional narrative, the compositions remain in a state of suspension, inviting the viewer to move between recognition and uncertainty.

Her paintings are charged with a sense of psychological and visual volatility. Lines, bodies and abstract forms overlap and interrupt one another, while areas of transparency and absence allow the underlying surface to remain visible.

Across her career, she has developed a visual language that continually negotiates between figuration and abstraction, structure and improvisation, visibility and concealment.