Rita Ackermann (born April 19, 1968) is a Hungarian-born American artist recognized for her abstract paintings that incorporate human forms, primarily focusing on themes of anthropomorphism and femininity. Her works, often depicting women and allusions to fairy tales, explore the nuances of adolescent disinterest using a unique and expressive style of brushwork. She lives in New York City.

Early life

Ackermann was born in Budapest. Ackermann studied at the University of Fine Arts Budapest from 1989 until 1992, where she studied with the painter

Károly Klimó Károly Klimó (; born 17 May 1936) is a Hungarian artist, one of the best known Hungarian artists of the present day. He is a non-figurative artist, member of the Széchenyi Academy of Literature and Arts. Born in Békéscsaba, he studied art ...

. In 1992, Ackermann moved to New York City to study at The

New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture The New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture at 8 West 8th Street, in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, New York State is an art school formed in 1963 by a group of students and their teacher, Mercedes Matter, all o ...

through the Hanes Family Foundation. Upon arriving in New York, the artist, who was originally “Rita Bakos,” changed her name to “Rita Ackermann,” her grandmother's maiden name.

Career

In 1994, Ackermann was commissioned by The New Museum to create a faux stained-glass window titled ''Who Are We? Where Did We Come From?''. That same year, she had her first solo exhibition at

Andrea Rosen Gallery Andrea Rosen Gallery is an art gallery in New York City, founded by Andrea Rosen in 1990. With two locations in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, the gallery specializes in contemporary and modern art, representing an international group of ...

in New York City which was reviewed in

Artforum ''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ × 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notably ...

by critic Keith Seward. In 1999, Ackermann mounted her first institutional exhibition at The

Swiss Institute Swiss Institute / Contemporary Art New York (SI) is an independent non-profit contemporary art organization founded in 1986. SI is located at 38 St. Marks Place, at the corner of Second Avenue, in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan in ...

in New York. In 2002, she had a solo exhibition of paintings, collage and works on paper titled Snowfall in August at Museum Het Domein in the Netherlands. From 2006 to 2008 Ackermann worked exclusively in collage, resulting in a series of works she compressed between two vertical sheets of Plexiglas. Ackermann participated in the 2008

Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. The event began as an annual exhibition in 1932; the first biennial was held in 1973. It is considered ...

. In 2011 her collaboration with filmmaker

Harmony Korine Harmony Korine (born January 4, 1973) is an American filmmaker, actor, photographer, artist, and author. His methods feature an erratic, loose and transgressive aesthetic, exploring taboo themes and incorporating experimental techniques,Alicia Kn ...

titled, “Shadow Fux” was exhibited at The Swiss Institute in New York City. Ackermann received her first major survey exhibition in 2011 titled, "BAKOS," at the Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art in Budapest. In 2012, Ackermann was the subject of a mid-career retrospective at Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, curated by Bonnie Clearwater. The exhibition featured paintings, drawings, and collages from 1993 to 2012. In 2014, the Sammlung Friedrichshof in Austria held an exhibition titled, "Meditation on Violence” by Ackermann, which focused on a series of ‘chalkboard paintings’ which were the result of experimenting with pushing the boundaries of painting. A survey of the artist's ‘chalkboard paintings’ was held in 2016 at

Malmö Konsthall Malmö Konsthall is an exhibition hall located in the center of Malmö, Sweden. It is one of the largest exhibition halls for contemporary art in Europe. Building The hall was designed by architect Klas Anshelm (1914-1980), who was inspir ...

in Sweden titled, “The Aesthetic of Disappearance”. An additional survey of Ackermann's works in chalk titled, “Movements as Monuments” was held in 2018 at La Triennale di Milano. In 2019, Ackermann began to work on her ''Mama'' series, which she has continued through today. A series of “Mama” paintings will be shown alongside her earliest drawings and paintings created from 1993 to 1996, in an exhibition titled "HIDDEN" at

MASI Lugano The Swiss–Italian Art Museum (), commonly known as MASI Lugano, MASILugano or MASI, is an art museum predominantly featuring 20th-century and contemporary art in Lugano, Switzerland. Since December 2019, the museum has two locations, one in the ...

in March 2023.

Personal life

Rita Ackermann is married to artist Daniel Turner.

Publications

* Kort, Pamela, Grau, Donatien, Bezzola, Tobia (et al.), 'Rita Ackermann. Hidden', Milan: Mousse, Lugano:

Museo d'arte della Svizzera italiana The Swiss–Italian Art Museum (), commonly known as MASI Lugano, MASILugano or MASI, is an art museum predominantly featuring 20th-century and contemporary art in Lugano, Switzerland. Since December 2019, the museum has two locations, one in the ...

, 2023 (forthcoming) * Jetzer, Gianni, Korine, Harmony, 'Rita Ackermann: Mama', Zurich: Hauser & Wirth Publishers, 2021 * Clearwater, Bonnie, Ensslin, Felix (et al.), 'Rita Ackermann', New York: Skira Rizzoli, 2011 * Orui, Makoto (ed.), 'Rita Ackermann. Keep my mouth shut and no headaches... Works 1996-1993', New York: Andrew Rosen Gallery, Tokyo: rockin’ on inc., 1997 * Ackermann, Rita, 'Sketchbook V (Twitchy)', New York: American Art Catalogues, 2022 * Ackermann, Rita, 'Sketchbook IV (Frequencies of Freedom (Double Take)', New York: American Art Catalogues, 2022 * Ackermann, Rita, 'Sketchbook III (7581)', New York: American Art Catalogues, 2022 * Ackermann, Rita, 'Sketchbook II (A Midsummer Night's Dream)', New York: American Art Catalogues, 2021 * Ackermann, Rita, 'Sketchbook I (For Mama)', New York: American Art Catalogues, 2021 * Ackermann, Rita, 'drawings',: Karma Publications, 2017 * Ackermann, Rita, 'Meditation on Violence": Schlebrugge.Editor, 2016 * ‘Rita Ackermann and Harmony Korine. Shadow Fux’, Rita Ackermann with Harmony Korine, New York: Swiss Institute of Contemporary Art, 2011 * 'Snowfall in August', Sittard: Museum Het Domein, 2002 * 'Revelations', Rita Ackermann (art) with Byron Coley (story), Tokyo: Rockin' On, 1999

Solo exhibitions

* 2023,

, 'Rita Ackermann. Hidden', Lugano, Switzerland * 2016,

, 'The Aesthetic of Disappearance', Malmö, Sweden * 2010,

Swiss Institute Contemporary Art New York Swiss Institute / Contemporary Art New York (SI) is an independent non-profit contemporary art organization founded in 1986. SI is located at 38 St. Marks Place, at the corner of Second Avenue, in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan in ...

, ‘Rita Ackermann and Harmony Korine: Shadow Fux’, New York City, New York

Public collections

Dallas Museum of Art The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is an art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In the 1970s, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the A ...

, Dallas, Texas * Denver Art Museum, Logan Collection, Denver, Colorado * The Long Museum, West Bund, China * The Maria Leuff Foundation, Columbia County, New York * Marieluise Hessel Foundation,

Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains within the Hudson River Historic District ...

, New York City, New York * Museum het Domein, Sittard, Netherlands *

Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) is a collecting museum located in North Miami, Florida. The building was designed by the architecture firm Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, New York City. History The Museum of Contemporary Art beg ...

, Miami, Florida * Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California *

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, New York City, New York *

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern art, modern and contemporary art museum and nonprofit organization located in San Francisco, California. SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art ...

, San Francisco, California * Ståhl Collection, Norrköping, Sweden * The Zabludowicz Collection, London, United Kingdom

References

External links

images of Ackermann's work
on ArtNet
Rita Ackermann by Josh Smith - BOMB Magazine

Rita Ackermann

Rita Ackermann

The Body Gets Lost in the Gestures: Rita Ackermann in conversation with András Szántó, in The Burger Collection and Ursula Magazine, 2022

''Rita Ackermann at Andrea Rosen'', ''Art in America'', Nov, 2004 by Vincent Katz

''Teenarama: Rita Ackermann'' by Peter Schjeldahl, artnet.com

Rita Ackermann at Andrea Rosen Gallery and The New Museum in 1994, by Keith Seward, Artforum

Gean Moreno, "Rita Ackermann and the Traumas of War," ART PAPERS, Jul - Aug 2012, Issue 36.04, Atlanta GA, pp. 28 – 33. Published in 2017 in Ursula Magazine

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20061114141703/http://www.rebeccacamhi.com/artists/ritaackerman.htm Ackermann at Rebecca M. Camhi Gallery, Athens, Greece
Rita Ackermann Interview, ''Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ackermann, Rita 1968 births Living people 20th-century Hungarian women artists 21st-century Hungarian women artists Artists from Budapest Contemporary painters Hungarian contemporary artists Hungarian painters Hungarian women painters Hungarian University of Fine Arts alumni Hungarian collage artists Hungarian women collage artists